Paul & Tara Visit the National Parks: Grand Canyon National Park

Visited: Aug 2015

Nearby city: Flagstaff, AZ (south rim) Page, AZ or Fredonia, AZ (north rim)

"You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it, you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths."

-John Wesley Powell

Thanks to automobiles and our National Park System, you may not have to "toil" for months to see the Grand Canyon like John Wesley Powell did. But that kind of effort may be needed in order to truly explore this magnificent canyon.

Humans are funny. People travel from ALL over the world to see this impressive site, and yet I did not visit the Grand Canyon until I was 17 years old. I spent almost all of my childhood in Arizona. I lived mere hours from one of the seven natural wonders of the world and it took that long to finally go see it. It is absolutely worth the thousands of miles people travel in order to see it. I also got this awesome picture from the visit.

Don't worry. This was super safe. There was a not-precarious-at-all ledge I was standing on that was hidden from view. This is no laughing matter, tourists have fallen to their death trying to get the perfect picture here at the canyon.

It's hard to describe what it's like to take in the view of the Grand Canyon. It's something that just has to be seen in person to really fathom how impressive this natural wonder is. The mighty Colorado River has cut into this canyon for years and years and years, exposing 2 billion years of Earth's geological history. The giant scar on Earth's surface is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and is over a mile deep.

We spent our day at the South Rim (which is, by far, the most visited region of the Park). We entered at the East Entrance Station, our first stop was at Desert View overlook.

Continue along the Desert View Drive until you get the Visitor Center. There's lots of overlooks along the rim.

At the Visitor Center you can take a shuttle bus to either one of the two trails that lead all the way down the canyon to Phantom Ranch along the river. You can head west to Bright Angel Trailhead, Maricopa Point, and Hermit's Rest. We headed east on the Shuttle Bus to Yaki Point and South Kaibab Trailhead. We went about a mile down the canyon along the South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point.

tourists with lots of snack foods = fat squirrels

Well we got our taste of hiking into the Grand Canyon. Going down is pleasant and very fun. But as soon as you turn around to head back to the rim...murder.

Whoa. Especially in August. Frankly, it kicked our butt. But the hike to Ooh Aah Point is a nice preview of the canyon. I'm excited to return and go all the way to Phantom Ranch. The Park has tons of signs reminding you not to attempt to hike all the way down and back up in one day. Only the most experienced hiker should try. Like my brother-in-law, who I'm pretty sure as done a rim-to-rim-to-rim hike all in one shot.

Anyway, we headed back to the Visitor Center and took a pleasant walk along the South Rim to Yavapai Point. I can't get enough of these views.