“There will never be a photograph of the Grand Canyon that can adequately describe its depth, breadth, and true beauty.”- Stephanie Payne
7:00 a.m. rise and shine. Time to crank up the tunes and get the day started. The Grand Canyon, as many of you know, is massive. As a semi-out of shape ex-athlete, I was not doing a serious hike. I mentioned before in my Day 1 post, the altitude is no joke and I’d be very careful when picking a trail to hike. The Grand Canyon also offers many adventure packages to help plan your trip!
Getting to the Grand Canyon
Around 10:00 a.m. my friend and I drove the 2 hours from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. I’d recommend filling up on gas before long trips in Arizona.
There is something about driving in Arizona that is peaceful. Nothing like the open road. About 20 minutes from the Grand Canyon, there is a gas station and gift shop, Valle Travel Stop. The shop offers a lot of different souvenirs, clothing, etc. I wouldn’t skip the shop if you are on Route 64. Don’t lose all of your money here no matter how cool the clothes are.
When you first arrive at the South Rim, you’ll pay to enter the park, around 35 dollars with a small SUV. The pass was good for the entire week! There was lots of parking when we went.
Walking towards the South Rim Trail, it felt like entering an amusement park. I remember going to Busch Gardens in Virginia and being in the parking lot and you couldn’t quite see what all of the park entailed. It felt like the same when going from the parking lot to the South Rim.
When we finally get to the first view of the Canyon:
Wow.
Beautiful.
The South Rim of the Grand Canyon offers a stunning view. Words and pictures cannot describe the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon from this trail. Of course the location we were at was very popular and there were people taking pictures on some of the platforms. We decided to walk part of the South Rim Trail.
The trail itself is pretty flat and runs about 13 miles. You can hike some or all of it. There are also shuttles that run through the park. Either by foot or riding the shuttle you’ll be able to spot some of the various wildlife at the park such as elk and (giant) ravens.
As we walked I did notice something.
First of all I have read many horror stories of people getting lost and unfortunately falling off the Grand Canyon. We did see people getting on ledges or going off trail to get THE picture.
Nah.
Grand Canyon Scenic Views
We were only going to be at the Grand Canyon for one day and tried to make the most of it. We decided to leave the South Rim trail after an hour and head to Horseshoe Bend. There were signs for scenic views to see while driving through the park and decided to take advantage. You’ll find parking lots located at each scenic view which was nice instead of stopping on a narrow road. We managed to stop by Mather Point, Desert View, Pima Point, and Grandview. Below are all of the views you can check out. Highly recommend if you are too lazy to walk, hike, take a donkey, etc.
Navajo Nation
While driving to to Horseshoe Bend, we came across Navajo Nation and a town called Tuba City. Tuba City was a nice stop before we got to Horseshoe Bend. The drive from the South Rim to Tuba City was stunning, nothing but desert, canyon, and desert. Navajo Nation covers 27,000 miles of beautiful land and has rich history. Learn more about the Native America Reservations in Arizona.
Horseshoe Bend
Last stop was Horseshoe Bend. Horseshoe Bend offers a view of a spectacular rock or monument right in the middle of the Colorado River. I don’t think from where we were standing we could capture its beauty, however, we saw people kayaking at the bottom, they probably got the better view.
https://www.kayakthecolorado.com/
I did see more signs basically labeled “Please don’t freakin stand on the ledge or you will fall and die,” at Horseshoe Bend, and I saw why. Looking down you get a clear view of the water and it just makes you want to inch closer and closer to the edge. Well not me, I got down on all fours when I could see the edge, didn’t quite make it.
Our day ended in Page, Arizona, 10 minutes from Horseshoe Bend. We stopped by a burger joint called Slackers. The burger tasted even better after a long day of traveling.
Night Driving back to Flagstaff
NEVER AGAIN.
Till Next Time.
-Rachel
