For anyone hiking or running rim-to-rim, most people will usually stop at a location about a mile below Roaring Springs that today is called the Manzanita Rest area, named after a creek coming down a small nearby side canyon. But the name and the rest area are a fairly new, a 2015 creation. Newer visitors have no idea that there is a rich history that took place at that location from 1973-2005.

For veteran rim-to-rim hikers and runners, they still call this place fondly, “The Aiken Home.” Yes, a couple lived there and raised three children in the depth of the canyon for more than three decades. The Aiken family made a deep impact on rim-to-rim history by helping, greeting, and even feeding thousands of visitors over the years. Bruce Aiken managed the crucial water system at nearby Roaring Springs completed in 1971, and Mary Aiken taught and raised their children and assisted hikers.

Who were the Aikens? How did they come to live in the Canyon? What was it like for three energetic children to spend their childhood in the Canyon away from many modern conveniences and “normal” entertainment and childhood friends? What was life like for them? Their tale is now almost forgotten, and evidence that they lived there has been replaced by a rest area and ranger station. But when I visit that amazing spot (nearly 40 times), I always think about the Aiken family and visualize the unique family that lived there for so many years.

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