It’s been a busy couple of weeks since I got back to Australia. I’ve finally sorted through all of the photos from the trip, and thought I
would write a bit about the Grand Canyon, which was definitely one of the highlights.
After spending a couple of days in Las Vegas, we hired a car
and hit the road towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I was a little
nervous without the GPS on my phone, and the directions I had gotten from the
hotel lobby were VERY bare bones. As it turns out, you only have to take
three roads to get there. There are vast stretches where the road forms a
straight line for miles through the desert. We decided to skip the West Rim,
where they have built a controversial see-through walkway over the canyon, and
drove straight on towards the South Rim. The interstate runs parallel to Route 66 at several points, and after a couple hours of driving we stopped in the tiny town of
Seligman, AZ to refuel and use the bathroom. The gas station borders the train tracks,
and even though the landscape is very barren it’s really beautiful in its own
way.
Route 66 at Seligman
Seligman, AZ
All of the accommodation inside of the park was already
booked, so we stayed in Tusayan, AZ just a couple of miles down the road. The sun was starting to go
down and the temperature was falling fast, so instead of trying to go see the
canyon we checked into The Grand Hotel and relaxed with a bite to eat. Every
night in the restaurant they had some live music, and this night happened to be
a banjo player doing Johnny Cash and other assorted country music covers. The decor was determinedly country western, with saddles substituting for bar stools and horseshoes nailed to almost every available surface, so I went along with the theme and had BBQ ribs for dinner.
The evening entertainment at The Grand Hotel
We headed into the national park early the next morning. The
weather was cold and sunny, and I was hoping that my gamble of coming during
the winter to avoid the crowds would pay off. I had read that sometimes the
entire canyon is filled with fog during the winter, but when I walked up to the
edge I could see for miles. It’s almost unfathomable how huge it is, and
without the summer crowds I was able to just look out on it all without having
to push and shove. There was a dusting of snow in some of the shady areas, and
I could just barely make out the Colorado River winding its way through the
canyon.
We walked along the Canyon Rim Trail into the village, where
there are several historic hotels and an old lookout post that now doubles as a gift
shop. There are no plastic bottles sold within the park, so I bought myself a reusable water bottle as my only souvenir from this trip back home. We had a nice bite to eat at El Tovar before calling
it a day and walking back to the car. I hope
I can see the North Rim someday, and go during the summer to see if the reds
and browns in the rocks are even more vivid. Even though it’s a bit of a pain to get
to, I’m so happy I got to see the Grand Canyon at least once in my life.
The moose at El Tovar was feeling festive
The view from the tiny lounge where we had lunch
El Tovar has a huge wraparound porch
