“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself,” wrote John Wesley Powell, the Army Major who led the first American exploration of the canyon in 1869. If you’ve stood at its rim, you know what he meant. My word is “mesmerized,” a term attributed to German physician Franz Mesmer who believed physical objects could pull one to them the way a magnet attracts metal.

I felt that pull the first time I stood at the South Rim. So did former Arizona senator and presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater: “Once you’ve been in the Canyon, and once you’ve sort of fallen in love with it, it never ends.”

So I was going to write about walking in canyons in general. Depending on how you count them, the U.S. has about 70—but the Grand is called grand for a reason.

Trust me; the Grand Canyon will do something for your spirit. And you won’t get the whole benefit unless you leave the car and the lodge and do some walking. You don’t have to hike all the way to the Colorado River—and you certainly don’t need to do a rim-to-rim (to the river then on up the north side—oh, I wish I could be 20 again).

Check with the visitor’s center. There are day hike options from both the south and north rims. If you can’t do the steepness, take the flat South Rim Trail. It’s over 12 miles long, but you can catch the shuttle bus to an area you like, walk as long as you like, then take the shuttle back to Grand Canyon Village.

Go in the fall or spring and take plenty of water. If you’ve not been before, I wish I could see the canyon through your eyes when you do.