Grand Canyon

For the third time since 1996, officials plan to unleash a flood in the Grand Canyon next month in an effort to restore an ecosystem that was altered by a dam constructed decades ago on the Colorado River. The Glen Canyon Dam changed the river from a muddy, unpredictable force of nature into a tightly controlled water-delivery system.

If you're planning a Memorial Day road trip, you'll be in good company, AAA says. More than 2 1/2 million Southern Californians are  expected to hit the highways for the long holiday weekend, the auto club says, a 1.6% increase from last year. Where will you be going? San Diego , Las Vegas , Arizona's Grand Canyon , San Francisco and the Central Coast , the Auto Club says. And more of you may be camping. Kampgrounds of America reports an 8% increase in reservations for this weekend.

You don't want Michael P. Ghiglieri writing about your next vacation. Ghiglieri, an Arizona river guide, Vietnam vet, ecology Ph.D. and seasoned emergency medical technician, is also the co-author of “Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon,” an epic collection of cautionary tales from perhaps America's most iconic national park. In the 10 years since the book's publication, it has sold more than 250,000 copies. Now Ghiglieri and co-author Thomas M. Myers are back with a second edition , thicker than the first.

Traveling from Utah's Zion National Park to the Grand Canyon in April, Miguel Ramirez and his family stopped at Marble Canyon in northern Arizona for a quick break. Utah had been cloudy, but the sky began to clear during their drive. By the time they reached the canyon, this scene had unfolded. "The contrast of blue skies, bright white clouds and deep red canyons was absolutely stunning," Ramirez said. The San Diego resident captured this photo with his Canon EOS 20D. View past photos we've featured . To upload your own, visit our reader travel photo gallery . When you upload your photo, tell us where it was taken and when.

LADIES and gentlemen, boys, girls and bored gamblers: Let me remind you that in just 17 days, barring construction delays, you and I will be able to slide on booties and tread upon the Hualapai Nation's wacky new tourist attraction, the glass-floored Skywalk, which will jut out over a western edge of the Grand Canyon, about 120 miles east of Las Vegas. Of course, if you don't find the Wile E. Coyote perspective or the $74.95 price tag tempting, you may be inclined to turn away.

Nothing spoils a good hike through the wilderness like radioactive streams. That's one of the reasons all Americans, but particularly Arizonans who benefit from the tourism magnet that is the Grand Canyon, should be thankful to the Obama administration for its decision Monday to withdraw about 1 million acres in the vicinity of the national park from new mining claims for the next 20 years. Congressional Republicans, led by politicians such as Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake who are heavily backed by the mining industry, turned the Grand Canyon decision into an important plank of a broad anti-environmental campaign last year, throwing up numerous bills and amendments to prevent the Interior Department from withdrawing these lands from new claims.

GRAND CANYON, ARIZ. By rail to the gorgeous gorge Fall deeply in love as the Grand Canyon Railway's four-day "Romance to the Rim" package whisks the two of you to comfort at the canyon's edge. Itinerary: Round-trip travel from Williams to the South Rim. Dates: Through Jan. 29.

Reading Susan Spano's story ["Ancient Rock, Eternal Truths," Sept. 11] brought back memories of 30 years ago. I had a Norwegian student visiting, and we were staying at El Tovar in Grand Canyon with my husband and kids. One morning after breakfast, the student and I decided to hike a little ways down the Bright Angel Trail. It was a beautiful day, and we were full of energy. We had an apple and an orange for nourishment, and off we went after leaving a note for my husband. Enjoying the lovely scenery, we did not realize that we had passed the ranch, garden and plateau until we found ourselves overlooking the Colorado River, where we met three Swedish students, to my guest's delight.

"Is this the trail? This can't be right," a couple asks as my wife, Terri, and I walk by, and though it's unclear whether we're nosing in on a dialogue a deux or responding to a legit request for assistance, we stop. The first part of the hike to Waipoo Falls, I explain, is along unimproved Halemanu Road, leading to several homesteads and, I assure them, silently praying, the trailhead. "And the waterfall is after that?" I nod assent. Not realizing that I'm also a newbie, off they stride, as confident as Columbus into the unknown.

Your editorial on air cleanup in the Grand Canyon ("Grand Canyon Pollution Cleanup," Sept. 13) states the city "must be willing to share the cost of cleaning up pollution it causes elsewhere." While we agree with your statement, we also want to be assured that the funds spent on additional cleanup equipment for the Navajo Generating Station will indeed result in greater visibility at the Grand Canyon. As a 21% owner of the coal-fueled power plant, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers would be responsible for a fifth of the costs for additional emissions control equipment, including flue gas scrubbers, if required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the more interesting venues being touted as a view spot for the annular eclipse of the sun May 20. Ranger-assisted opportunities to view the eclipse will be provided on both rims. On the South Rim, NASA scientists and amateur astronomers will share their telescopes for views of the eclipse and of the night sky afterward. The Park Service says the largest concentration of telescopes will be behind the Grand Canyon Visitor Center on the South Rim, but telescopes will also be at Lipan Point, at the benches just west of the Desert View Watchtower and on the deck of the Watchtower itself.

It's finally official. Google Drive is here. The reports and eagle-eyed spotters were right. You get 5 gigabytes of storage for free across Google products. There's been tons of speculation, but here's exactly what Drive does. Google Docs is built into Google Drive, so you can share and collaborate in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. And you can access your content on Mac, PC, iOS or Android. Drive can be installed as a folder on both Macs and PCs and as an app on Android phones and tablets.

You don't want Michael P. Ghiglieri writing about your next vacation. Ghiglieri, an Arizona river guide, Vietnam vet, ecology Ph.D. and seasoned emergency medical technician, is also the co-author of “Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon,” an epic collection of cautionary tales from perhaps America's most iconic national park. In the 10 years since the book's publication, it has sold more than 250,000 copies. Now Ghiglieri and co-author Thomas M. Myers are back with a second edition , thicker than the first.

Arizona: hits and misses Regarding "First-Rate Journeys in the 48th State," Feb. 12: I wasn't sorry that the Travel section missed the best places for Mexican food in Phoenix and Tucson. We'll keep those to ourselves. But really, how could you miss the absolutely coolest place in Arizona? The historic Weatherford Hotel in downtown Flagstaff. A family-friendly restaurant for weary travelers and a comfortable hangout with loads of local color. Great food; great bands; great, great staff.

Grand Canyon National Park, the 5-million or 6-million-year-old granddaddy of Arizona tourism, logged 4.3 million visitors last year. Rangers say that's a dip of 3.7% from the year before, but the canyon remains among the nation's most visited parks. And despite its age (also a ranger estimate), it does keep changing. Visitors to the South Rim - by far the park's most heavily trafficked area - will find six recently installed water-bottle refilling stations near major trail heads.

It's hard to say what makes something a landmark -- and how long it takes to earn such status. For the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona, it took just five years. The glass walkway built as a tourist attraction over the western part of the Grand Canyon recently was selected by Travel + Leisure readers as the world's top new bridge. New? The bridge that's 120 miles east of Las Vegas opened in 2007. Travel + Leisure explains that readers were asked in an online survey last fall to select the world's "new" landmarks, meaning anything built in the last 15 years.

If I close my eyes, I can almost see Bright Angel Creek spilling into the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I've been here only twice and don't know if I'll ever make it again because it's a long, hard trip down from the rim - seven miles, losing 5,000 feet in elevation, along the South Kaibab Trail, the way I hiked into the Big Ditch in 2004, or a slightly more gradual 9.3 miles along Bright Angel Trail, the route I took before that...

Nothing spoils a good hike through the wilderness like radioactive streams. That's one of the reasons all Americans, but particularly Arizonans who benefit from the tourism magnet that is the Grand Canyon, should be thankful to the Obama administration for its decision Monday to withdraw about 1 million acres in the vicinity of the national park from new mining claims for the next 20 years. Congressional Republicans, led by politicians such as Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake who are heavily backed by the mining industry, turned the Grand Canyon decision into an important plank of a broad anti-environmental campaign last year, throwing up numerous bills and amendments to prevent the Interior Department from withdrawing these lands from new claims.