Jen and Meg's Excellent Road Trip Recap: The Grand Canyon

Wowza, talk about getting sidetracked.  I started posting about Megan and I's roadtrip, unfortunately, less than a week later, Mike and I headed out on a short road trip of our own for a meetup with some of my family near Charleston, South Carolina (that post is coming soon).  So, without further adieu, I'll attempt to get back on track recapping the big road trip, starting with our visit to the Grand Canyon.

THE Grand Canyon

News flash: The Grand Canyon is big, real big.   Walking up, I didn't know what to expect from only seeing pictures in history or travel books.  But man, it is bigger than you could ever imagine.  At one point a park ranger commented that if you were a bird (or plane), it is just 10 miles across, but to drive around the whole thing is several hundred miles.  Don't quote me on that exactly, but hopefully you get the idea.  The Grand Canyon is so big that it make the Colorado River look like a stream.  In fact, in many places, it was barely visible from the top of the canyon.

The best view of the Colorado River from top of the Canyon

We chose to experience the scenery by walking the popular 'Rim Trail' along the South Rim of the Canyon, which is by far the most popular part.  The Rim Trail is about 5 miles round trip, and a pretty easy hike overall, as most of the path is paved.  Even so, most people seemed to stay within the first half mile of the trail - it was much less crowded as we proceeded further down the trail.  Below, and right, are a few pictures I took.  As the markings on the trail pointed out, the Grand Canyon is billions of years in the making and you can't mistake the distinct layers of rock no matter where your viewpoint.

I remember telling Megan the next time I visit the Grand Canyon, I would take advantage of the numerous hikes available.  I can only imagine how beautiful the view is within the Canyon looking up.

We camped overnight in the Desert View campground several miles outside from the main Visitor's Center, which had modest accommodations (no water), though it did have flushable toilets.  There was a fire ban in effect because of the dry conditions, so no campfires either.  Our one night there was pretty uneventful.  We each had a sandwich and a few beers, and laid our heads down shortly after the sun had fully set.  The next morning we woke up as early as possible and started our drive to Zion National Park in Utah.