Over this Labor Day weekend, we visited Grand Canyon. It's been on our list of places to visit because it seems like sacrilege to live in Arizona and never take your kids to see the Grand Canyon. Brian and I had seen it twice before, but our kids hadn't been there yet. It's truly quite the hazard so we hesitated for many years, but we felt they were both finally old enough to respect the danger and be impressed by its awesomeness. We were right. They were awed. Hope you enjoy our photolog.
We arrived at the visitors center on Saturday around 9:00 am, right in time for the video "Grand Canyon: A Journey of Wonder." We sat in on that and came outside to a rain shower. Then we watched from Mather Point as the rain moved across the canyon. It was pretty cool.
It cleared up quickly. Weather changes abruptly and often along the rim.
Our new binoculars arrived just in time for this trip. Matthew got a lot of use out of them!
Very near the visitors center, we got our first look at wildlife. It's not a rattler.
We walked a bit of the Rim Trail from Mather Point to the Yavapai Geology Museum. They do an excellent job there of telling how the canyon formed and explaining all its layers.
After lunch, we rode over to the village to take in the views from the El Tovar Lodge, Grand Canyon's premier hotel along the rim. The kids also took in a ranger program that was all about ravens.
The kids relaxed a bit at Hermit's Rest.
Here's a raven at Mohave Point.
There are a lot of mule deer and elk grazing everywhere and, surprisingly, not far from humans coming and going. This was taken at the entrance of our campground one afternoon.
Though a holiday weekend, Mather Campground didn't feel crowded. Our site was pretty large, and most sites are relatively private with all the trees and shrubs around.
On Sunday morning, we woke very early and headed out to Yaki Point via the shuttle bus. We wanted to start our hike early, and we were on the trail by 7:30.
The South Kaibab Trail is 7.5 miles and goes all the way to the river. We didn't do that, of course. We went to Cedar Ridge which is 1.5 miles into the canyon or about a fifth of the way to the river. Still, it's a strenuous trail for sure. It begins with quite a few steep switchbacks, and even though it levels off at a few points you are constantly descending. It was a bit rough on the knees. But the views!
I looked up after less than ten minutes of hiking and snapped this photo. You descend quickly.
We stopped for some photos at Ooh Aah Point.
It took about 45 minutes to get to Cedar Ridge. We rested a bit and had a snack.
Matthew protected our snacks from the squirrels.
Here's our requisite hiking shoes shot.
Going back up is mandatory and pretty darn hard. We took our time. I was glad we went early because a lot of the trail was still in the shade. I can see how people get in trouble by starting too late, though.
We rested again at Ooh Aah Point.
Then we kept climbing. Don't. Stop. Moving. hahaha
Though no cake walk, it was still a fabulous hike with plenty of glorious views. One of our best! Afterwards, we relaxed at our campsite for a while.
Parking in this spot was harder than hiking the South Kaibab Trail! That tree made this pull-through site a back-in site, and complete darkness upon arrival at 10:30 pm made it that much more fun. It was stressful, but somehow Matthew slept through the whole thing.
Lots of people weren't as lucky (or as skilled) as we were, I guess.
Brian's brother Jason sent us this free hammock he got from a Dave Matthew's concert. I dunno, but it sure comes in handy. We all got a lot of use out of it this trip.
In the late afternoon, we drove to the Tusayan Museum on the east side of the South Rim area. There we walked a short interpretive trail among some Ancient Puebloan ruins and the kids got sworn in as Junior Rangers.
We stopped at Moran Point just before sunset.
On Monday morning, we departed the campground and exited the park through the east side. First we stopped at Desert Watchtower.
On this side you can see the top of the North Rim and the crack in the earth that is the canyon. It's a cool perspective.
It was a remarkable trip, and we really lucked out with some beautiful weather. Though it was probably busier than regular weekends because of the holiday, we never really felt like it was too crowded (maybe with the exception of some legs of the shuttle ride to Hermit's Rest). It's a big place, though, so we enjoyed the scenery and tried our best to take it all in. Hope to go back again soon!
