Into the Canyon

I stumbled upon this movie after reading Kevin Fedarko's account of this trip (A Walk in the Park) and purchasing Peter McBride's epic book of photographs from the same trip (The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim). It really complements those books by showing the absolute beauty of the Canyon while pointing out the issues involving its potential exploitation. And Kevin and Peter's journey (and the lessons they learned during it) makes it more than just a nice nature film.

Unlike other reviewers, I feel it was important to see the Navajo Council discussion of the proposed tramway construction at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers - a very bad idea that so far has been voted down by the Navajo Nation. The footage of the intrusive helicopter flights also makes a valid point about the need to balance the financial interests of the Native American tribes with the quality of the Canyon experience. Having visited the North Rim last year (and planning to return in 2026), I'd say this film is an excellent argument for a big NO to future development, like that tramway.

Personally, I felt the film could have been longer, but then I'm a big time fan and supporter of OUR National Parks, especially the Grand Canyon. Highly recommended.

I have to say, this documentary really drew me in. It may be because of the struggle of the people who took on this crazy project (hike the ENTIRETY of the Colorado river at the bottom of the Grand Canyon). Maybe it was the incredible beauty of the place. Maybe it was the obvious difference between different parts of the river that have been relatively untouched by human hand, due to difficult terrain, compared to the sections that have seen development. Or maybe it's for exactly all these reasons that this story truly spoke to me. I noticed the director has filmed several short documentaries about rivers throughout the world. Thank you, Pete, for telling a story that speaks truth about holding our natural world dear, about allowing the wild places to be wild in for future generations. Truly inspiring story-telling.

I love the way they also showed what Indigenous people are facing and how the land is at risk by greed.

Their journey was absolutely beautiful. Kind of scary at times as they were really close to the edge.

I didn't realize the Grand Canyon was so beautiful!

I have only been to the South Rim once (I leave next week for trip #2), but none of my pictures came close to capturing the truly breathtaking beauty of the Grand Canyon. This movie does an amazing job of bringing you in and showing you both the beauty and the danger of this amazing place. This movie should be required viewing for anyone going to visit the Grand Canyon. Really worth the time.

You're not really learning about the canyon, you're following 2 city guys who hike the canyon from one end to the other. It's more of a home movie than a true exploration piece in my opinion.

Also, as someone that's hiked the grand canyon, these guys were dangerously lacking in preparation and decision making. Their initial guide, Rich, had to stop them on their first attempt, and even on the second they are largely not educated on how to hike the canyon's unique dangers (heat, water, weather, etc) well, take dangerous/not necessarily interesting routes, and make numerous questionable decisions that could easily have gotten them killed.

I think we could have gotten a much better feel for the canyon's many wonders without the slog of hiking from one end to the other, but to do focused treks at key geographic, historical, and visual locations.