Recent comments in /f/EarthPorn

TheIrishBlur6 t1_j7n6qt4 wrote

Reply to Grand Canyon South Rim [OC][4640x6960] by supercooper3000

Likely the most significant and powerful experience of my life so far (am 40 yrs old) was rafting the Colorado. Dipped in at Lee's Ferry and 8 days later hiked out via the Bright Angel Trail. Changed my perspective what I enjoyed in life. Such a beautiful part of the natural world.

Edit: spelling

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hotdogfever t1_j7n6eab wrote

Reply to Grand Canyon South Rim [OC][4640x6960] by supercooper3000

I’m definitely in the minority here but I’m not a huge fan of Grand Canyon because it is simply TOO GRAND. Much like the photo OP posted, it’s like my eyes don’t know where to look and nothing is in focus (I have pretty terrible eyes so that could play a part). Looks like I’m just looking into an abyss of nothing. It’s crazy when you think about the geological processes and the amount of time it’s taken to be created but as far as views go I’m always left a bit underwhelmed.

That said I’ve never made it all the way down and the further down I went the more impressive it was. I think rafting through the Grand Canyon could possibly make it one of my favorites, who knows! View from the top where most people visit is always a let down for me.

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CptHammer_ t1_j7n67wl wrote

Reply to comment by ThatsNotRight123 in Grand Canyon South Rim [OC][4640x6960] by supercooper3000

I used to live in AZ. I've been to the grand canyon several times. I suffer from poor depth perception. What you see in the photo I pretty much see in real life.

I use context clues to gauge distance and I am often better than some when a distance is greater than a couple hundred meters. At the grand canyon I have no such context clues normally.

One time I go and am with people who are seeing it for the first time. I look down and can see the Colorado River as I had a hundred times before. It's late November and near noon. We're on the north side and the shadow of our rim can be seen on the canyon floor almost to the river bank.

Before this day I only had the perception of great distance because our human body shadows were too small to me made out on top of the rim. The double slit experiment would also indicate that a single human shadow would be faint if I had a telescope to see that far more clearly.

On this day, I see a helicopter. I see the top of a helicopter. I see it's shadow at an angle so far away from the top edge of the rim shadow. I can tell the helicopter is far by its smallness and the shadow displacement. I can tell the grandeur of the canyon for the first time. I think I was more in awe than the people I brought.

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