Professional Multimedia expert Mike Krebs shares photos and insight
From Landscapes and wildlife to history and adventure, what’s the one thing about the Grand Canyon that has intrigued you?
The scenery is the most amazing thing about the Grand Canyon. How else can you explain the thousands of people who travel from around the world to see it? While hiking down the Bright Angel Trail, I was constantly stopping to take in the view. It was as if each step provided a different angle to appreciate. In the two I spent at the Grand Canyon, I took several hundred photos.
What according to you is the best way to get to the Grand Canyon – By Air, By Road or By Rail?
My trip to the Grand Canyon was on Amtrak and I would suggest that mode of transport especially for those people coming in from around the world. Traveling by Amtrak is an amazing way to meet people from this great country. They offer an excellent slice of American ideas and personalities that you can’t escape.
The folks we met offered advice on where to visit and what to see. They told us tales of the times back in earlier days when they were riding the rails decades ago. And I found the relaxed pace of a train allowed me to take in the scenery, and prepare my senses for the Grand Canyon.
While I love driving on huge road trips, I have to say that riding the Amtrak across the country provided a value I did not expect.
What is travel to you in one word?
Excellent
What are three tips for an awesome budget trip to the Grand Canyon?
If you have basic needs and are on a budget I suggest going for the less expensive lodging option. After the fact I now see that I spent so little time in the room anyway.
Get a book about the canyon and read it just before and during your trip there. It will act as an inexpensive tour guide to help you put together the story behind the area.
Keep your budget in tact by making your own food from the grocery store. Then, after you finish that massive hike and are feeling on top of the world, you won’t feel guilty about splurging on a well deserved steak! If you plan on that rewarding meal, it will also provide a bit more encouragement getting up that last stretch.
On your travels, what would you choose a book or a camera, and why?
I would choose a camera. I have always been a visual person, having worked in the many facets of multi media. Photography is like a way to describe my experience without saying a word.
What surprised you about the Grand Canyon?
I was most surprised coming back up the trail. It seemed like a piece of cake walking down to the bottom of the trail, so how hard could it be to go back up? Or so I thought. We felt good about it the whole way, like we could do anything. Then it was time to turn around.
The hike up the Bright Angel Trail has a lot of switchbacks. Couple that with the fact that you can’t always see how high up you still have to go. It seemed like when we would think that we were almost to the top, we would go around the corner and see another dozen switchbacks to go.
We ran out of water about an hour before we made it to the top, but some amazing Canadians we met along the way offered us some of theirs. It was a real positive experience.
The grand canyon is a very interesting climb because you are essentially climbing down, not up. When one climbs other places, you generally climb up, when you hit the peak or the point, you only have to worry about going down. On Bright Angel Trail, you do the easy part first, and the hard part last.
As a travel destination, how would you rank the Grand Canyon from 1 to 10?
10
Did you visit the Visitor Center? Did you see the IMAX movie, Grand Canyon: Rivers of Time? What did you think?
Yes. It was informative. No, we didn’t have time.
Tell us a little about yourself! This will be included on the web site. What brought you to Grand Canyon? Where are you from? What do you do? What are your influences?
My name Is Mike, and I have been traveling and living abroad since 2005. It started after graduating college by getting a job working on board cruise ships. I was a broadcast technician, shooting and editing corporate video on board. From there, I followed my pursuits in media production, working freelance in broadcasting and photography based out of Miami, Florida.
My Grand Canyon trip was in 2008, it was part of a greater Milwaukee to San Francisco trip. Myself and my English girlfriend were on a mission to travel by rail as much as we could and loved every minute of it. She was the inspiration to our Southwest USA adventure, as she is from England and always wanted to see the Grand Canyon.
Since the Grand Canyon, we traveled around the USA, and, more recently, spent a year living and working in Australia. From there we went to China, Mongolia and Central Europe adding to our amazing Round the World adventure.
These days we both work in Chicago, where I continue my career in multi media and technology services. I love the work I do, but the travel bug remains in hibernation until I break out my backpack and hit the road once again. Luckily I now get to go to England every year to visit family.
More photos from Mike can be viewed here:
http://www.traveldroppings.com/photos.php
http://www.panoramio.com/user/143293
http://www.mikekrebs.net/photography.php
http://www.mikekrebs.net/panorama-photography.php
