Exploring the Top Rim of the Grand Canyon

Because we knew we would be leaving very early the day of our hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, we thought we needed to take a pre-hike recognizance trip there first.  We needed to figure out where to park the car that morning.  We needed to understand the early morning shuttle system.  We needed to understand where the trail heads were so we wouldn't have to waste steps when we were tired after the hike.  So we made a trip to the Grand Canyon on Monday to check it out.  It was still as grand as ever!

Even though we have been there before, it was never on a day this beautiful.  On the spring break family trip that we took the boys on, we have pictures of the whole family standing in front of a canyon filled with clouds.  It had snowed on us during the drive up from I-40 that day and we were all freezing in our winter coats in that picture.  Today there was no wind, and the temperature was ideal.  We didn't need jackets, and we were both practicing wearing the backpacks we would use to hike down to the bottom of the canyon in two days.

 In this picture we can see part of the area we will be hiking through on our way out of the canyon.  You can see part of Indian Gardens, which is the half-way point of the 10 mile hike up from Phanton Ranch at the bottom.

Denisa has actually been here multiple times, but always on fast trips when we were only in the park for a few hours.  So today's trip was a nice opportunity to actually go inside the historical buildings on the rim and look around.  But of course, we spent most of our time gazing into the canyon.

We checked out the top of the Bright Angel trail.  This is where we will be hiking out of the canyon on Thursday afternoon.  Much of the elevation change happens at the end of the hike when you are the most tired.  So Denisa practiced her triumphant ascent today.  I think she looks a lot more rested now than she will be on Thursday!

 


We took a picnic lunch with us and ate it at on a rock at the canyon edge.  It is appropriate that a den of ants joined us for our picnic.  But the view from our "dining table" was spectacular.

Because all of our previous trips had been short, we had never visited the far western edges of the canyon towards a place called "Hermit's Rest."  

There were less tourists here because it takes longer to reach and you can't drive your car into this area.  But there are wonderful CNG-powered buses running every 8 minutes.  "Less tourists" means that the buses were always full, but at least you could take a picture without lots of people in it.

At the rim area close to the visitor's center, there were so many people that you would have to struggle to take a picture without others right beside you. Five million people visit the Grand Canyon every year, and I think 4 million were there on this beautiful spring afternoon.  The good news with the crowds is there was always someone offering to take a picture of the two of us together at the rim.

 
We also noticed that this is a very international place.  The Grand Canyon is one of the seven wonders of the world, and seems to be on the itinerary of every foreign traveler that comes to the United States.  We heard more different languages spoken today than we have since we visited the Statue of Liberty.  We estimate that over 50% of the tourists were from countries other than the United States today.

The best way to visit the Grand Canyon for one day is to leave your car parked in the entry lots outside the visitor's center and take the park shuttles everywhere you want to go.  The shuttles come frequently during the day, and we could always fit into the next bus.  On busier days during the summer that might not work.  But it felt pretty busy on this beautiful day that had been preceded with three days of clouds, rain and snow.  Any travelers with any flexibility in their plans would have definitely waited until today to come to the canyon.

Biking is another thing that we have never done at the Grand Canyon  There is a company that rents them at the visitor center, but we always have ours with us on our bike rack.  So we rode the greenway trail through the forested area.  Our son and daughter-in-law will be camping here next month, so we thought it would be fun to find the site they reserved and send them a picture.

As we rode back to the visitor's center, we saw a female elk.  She was munching on the plant specimens in the garden that had been so carefully planted and labeled.

Since it was already 6:30, we decided to stay to watch the sunset over the Grand Canyon.  From our vantage point at Mather's Point, we could actually best see the upper canyon walls lit up in the east by the setting sun.

But it wasn't a bad view to the west as well.  We are having a great time wandering some of His grand wonders!