Is She Truly Grand?
The Grand Canyon - one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It’s funny because seeing the Grand Canyon was never on our list of must see’s - not that we exactly have a list. We went as we were staying in Flagstaff, AZ and figured we are only about an hour and half away so why not go and see what the hype is about. I will say it is beautiful in its own way and interesting to see the landscape. I like to think of what it would have been like to be the first people in the area and how they adapted to living in this environment as well as think of the explorers that have made treks through and how difficult that must have been. But for us, we would not consider this as a vacation spot, more like go see it if you are out here, kind of thing.
At the time of our visit the North Rim was closed as it was still early in the season. We parked at the South Entrance Visitor Center and took the free shuttle. We decided the best way for us to experience this area is to do a hike. There are several trails to hike and if you want to go intense you can do the rim to rim or even the rim to rim to rim hikes which I think vary 13-30 something miles. We chose to hike the Kaibab trail which has various destination points along the trail so you can vary how long you want to hike for. Being that its a National Park, the trail was quite busy but after you pass the first destination of Ooh Aah Point and the further you continue the less people you encounter on the trail.
I think it was at the next destination, Cedar Ridge where there was a bathroom. You may see mules on the trail. The rule is to yield to them, move over and keep quiet. Much of the trail is on a ledge and can be a bit nerve racking if you have a fear of heights.
We continued on to Skeleton Point which is about 6 miles round trip with 2,040 feet elevation change. Here you will get a broad range of view. You can even see the Colorado River far off in the distance. This was our turn around point.
It is highly recommended to start earlier in the morning when it is cool as there is basically no shade on the entire trail, no water and can get very hot during the day. Also less experienced hikers can get into trouble without proper gear/water as its starts with a decent and seems relatively easy until you turn around and its an uphill climb.
After the hike we got back on the shuttle and headed east hitting a few more of the scenic spots, some requiring less than a mile walk. We felt the hike gave us the best perspective and did not continue on to view more of the park west of the visitor center.
