Grand Canyon

Today was a very good day. The Canyon certainly lives up to the hype. It's so big, it's so massive, it's so ginormous, it's so...Grand. In some ways though, the hype almost took away from the experience. When we first arrived, we felt like we were looking at a big picture, or a movie. It was like we were at the Grand Canyon museum rather than at the Grand Canyon - it was just so surreal. Thankfully, the hike down into the canyon and up took care of that feeling and we can confirm that the real Grand Canyon is up in Arizona, North of Flagstaff, and that it is truly awesome.

We had breakfast at the hotel. The dining room was absolutely packed, much like the lobby when we registered yesterday. We can't believe how busy this place is in the off-season. It makes us glad we didn't come in the summer. Apparently, it's just crawling with tourists...darn tourists! We've also been surprised at the drop in temperature at night. We awoke to frost on our vehicle and snow in shaded areas as we drove to the South rim. I guess that's in keeping with desert (hot days, cold nights) as well as being at elevation (7,500 ft).

(Livia trying to get her arms out like Daddy)

When we arrived at the park we asked a ranger the best way to see the canyon in a day with a 20 month child. We seriously considered taking a short flight over the canyon in a fixed wing (which we'd still like to do someday) but opted instead for a hike. We were keen to get away from the shuttle buses and paved pathways. The Ranger told us that we should only go to the first viewpoint of the Kaibob trail, 600 ft down (The Ooh Aah Point - I'm not making this up) as we likely wouldn't make it lower and back again in a day. Baaah, he didn't know we were well-conditioned BC hikers. We made it down to just below the third view point (past Ooh Aah, Cedar Ridge and Skeleton point) - 2,000 ft down from the rim. It was worth the climb as this vantage point gave us our first view of the Colorado River on that hike. Our hearts ached to reach the river and see the canyon tower over our heads and we dream of one day camping by it. It was, however, much harder to go up than down (who would have thought?). It's easy to see how people get fooled into attempting to reach the river and back in a day and require evacuation by (a very expensive) helicopter. Note that the second picture below shows our path zig zagging its way down the canyon for several hundred feet.

By the way, Fall 2025 (when everyone's kids are old enough to appreciate it) we're going to come back with a big group to raft and camp our way along the Colorado river. We're going to fly into Vegas, rent big white soccer vans (which may or may not be able to fly by then), and drive (or fly) our way across the desert to the start of our trip. Sign up now. More details as the date approaches.

We returned to the village with aching muscles, hungry tummies, and dry mouths. A wonderful mexican restaurant and a soak in a hot tub fixed all of the above (mmmm...hot tub water). A good night's sleep and on to Albuquerque NM tomorrow.

Livi's quotes of the day:

1. While looking out over the Canyon pointing at different spots: "Dangerous, and there's dangerous and there's dangerous, hold hands". I guess we overstressed the importance of holding hands in the Canyon - she's gonna be a bit paranoid...

2. "Grand Canyon...big rock...throw in water" - Livi really wanted to make it to the river.

3. While looking beside her chair in the restaurant: "Daddy made big mess. Oh dear!" - nice try Livia.