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The canyon lands of the USA stretch from central Arizona into Southern Utah and encompass the Grand Canyon. Actually, the national park named "canyonlands" sits deep in the Colorado plateau (a sub-desert of the Great Basin) in Utah. What many people do not realise is that the land of canyons covers an area many times larger than several countries - certianly larger than mine! Even as far south as Sedona, Arizona the land takes on the red hue characteristic of the Grand Canyon and many others of the region (Bryce canyon and Glen Canyon).

Strictly speaking the canyonlands are not desert at all. For sure this area is extremely arid and hot but the rainfall exceeds the rate of evaporation and the appearance of desert is more an artefact of the inability of the poor soil to retain moisture than it is a reflection of truely arid climate.

I have wandered this neck of the USA several times, and in a rather pleasant turn of fate have been condemned by mother nature to wander it for the rest of my life. But it has to be said again, as it has been many times, that no set of statistics can prepare you for the Grand Canyon or indeed the entire Colorado Plateau. The canyon is 225 miles long and nearly 10 miles wide. The multicolored rock strata sink a mile to the Colorado River below. At the bottom sit rocks that are so old that they pre-date life itself! The floor of the canyon bears no fossils at all.

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado river is the ultimate American wilderness icon, and I guess that's why I don't love it more. Its been seen so many times in images and movies that it is difficult to make the Canyon your own. Don't get any ideas about getting at one with nature by hiking out here in some wilderness adventure - what they don't tell you is that there is a waiting list of several years to be granted a pass to sail down the canyon in your rubber dingy, and any hiking you do will likely be done with a pedestrain group interested only is being able to say in future times that they hiked all of 90 minutes down into the canyon for a photo opportunity. If you want to do the real thing head well away from Grand Canyon village - 3o miles at least, take your life in your own hands, stock up with plenty of water, ignore the toruistic advice of the park service and listen carefully for what canyonlands has to say. You'll be pleasantly surprised.