As we friends of the Grand Canyon urge the matter of access to South Bass Trailhead, here is some more advocacy for this historic area of Canyon topography.
Raul Grijalva, in his time as a U.S. Representative, used his public status most prominently in this century to protect and enhance the status of the Grand Canyon. Through his efforts to curb mining activities, and in his successful advocacy for additional designation of relevant lands, working with the Associated Tribes, he brought about an expanded concept of Grand Canyon, so that we can now, referring to the ensemble of proclaimed and legislated lands, speak of the Greater Grand Canyon. His decade+ of work (as always in cooperation with many others) deserves to be recognized and celebrated. I suggest that it would be appropriate to have a prominent landmark feature his name.
What do you think of a designation in the area in which the South Bass Trailhead is located? There are already points of relevance there: Chemehuevi, Havasupai, and Walapai Points. What if the above-rim sub-plateau drained by Pasture Wash, and leading to the Trailhead, were designated Grijalva Plateau as a landform similar to Powell Plateau and Walhalla Plateau on the North Rim.
This post is written with gratitude to Tom Martin for his work on the South Bass Trail access as well as to Raul Grijalva for his expansion of Grand Canyon’s recognition.
