Breathtaking Grand Canyon

Our visit to the Grand Canyon started with a 780km road trip, so we decided to get going early. I’m so glad we did, as even at 6:30am there was still some traffic getting out of LA. The drive itself was pretty uneventful, however we did do a bit of a detour between Kingman and Barstow to do a bit of driving onto Route 66. 

It was fun to see all the old signs and the ‘Route 66’ printed on the road all the way. We also stopped at the Bottle Ranch on the way. Someone decided to create a sort of forest with trees made from metal and old glass bottles. It’s equal parts eerie and beautiful walking through the trees and watching the sun reflecting off the different coloured bottles. It’s also filled with old bits and pieces which were fun to discover. I could’ve spent a good while walking around and taking it all in, but we still had a long way to go. Because that part of route 66 was pretty quiet I took over the driving for a while, and I must say our car drove like a dream. Driving on the right side of the road is weird at first, but when you are on the highway it quickly feels normal, it’s when you drive in the town that you really notice it. The worst part is trying to judge the width of the car on the right hand side, Jeremy had to keep reminding me to watch out for the shoulder. Although I must say being a passenger on the right is almost more difficult than driving. I think it’s because you aren’t used to being on that side of the car or the road, but it constantly felt like Jeremy was driving across the lanes, only to check the mirror and see that it was all fine! The rest of the drive was pretty boring and consisted of long straight highway roads, although the scenery was quite pretty along the way with deserts and mountains in the distance. 

View from one of the rest points

Finally in Arizona!

After a good 10 hours of being on the road, we eventually made it to the Grand Canyon National Park. I had read up that staying in a lodge in the park itself is the way to go, and luckily managed to get us a room. So we made our way to the lodge. You drive through the national park and you could be driving anywhere really, there’s just forest all around you, so when we got our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon we were completely unprepared. Even through the trees and people we could see that it would be an amazing experience. We quickly checked in and then made our way to the viewing point closest to where we were staying. To see the canyon in real life is just breathtaking. I had seen pictures of it, but it just can’t prepare you for being there in person. The sheer scale of the canyon is mind blowing. It carries on for as far as you can see, and it just makes you realise how small you and some of your worries are, in the grand scheme of things. The most beautiful part of it all is all the different colours that are present in the stones. As the sun breaks through the clouds it lights up a different part of the canyon and makes the reds more bright and almost looks like it is on fire. Even now I don’t think my words can do it justice.

We booked to stay in the Maswick Lodge, which was all that was available when we booked. It was perfectly fine for what it is. However if you get the chance, try and book at the Bright Angel lodge and ask for a room with a view. Some of the places are right on the view points and I can only imagine what sunrise must look like from one of those rooms.

The next day also happened to be our 3 year wedding anniversary, so we thought what better way to spend it than with a hike through the canyon itself. Most of the hikes are actually for overnight hikers, where you can stay over in the canyon itself. Unfortunately we definitely didn’t have the gear for that, so we just did the trail and then turned around after a few kilometres. We had been recommended to go down the South Kaobib Trail, which is the best way to get as far into the canyon as quickly as possible as it’s the steepest trail. This is great news for the way down and for the amazing views, but not so much on the way up! But it was so worth it. Experiencing the canyon from a completely different angle was pretty amazing, and it was an experience I won’t forget. We hiked down to Cedar Ridge point and back which was about 5km or so in total, and took us about 3 hours or so to complete. If you find yourself in the canyon, definitely do this.

After that we headed to the visitor centre, and watched a short movie about the history of the canyon etc, which was interesting. We then did another 4km work all along the rim, back to our lodge which takes you all along the rim of the canyon, and also offers some amazing views. 

After all that exercise it was time for a shower and some relaxation. We had bought ourselves a nice bottle of white wine in LA, so took that down to the view point (hidden in some take away coffee cups) and watched the sunset over the canyon. For our anniversary dinner we got some takeaway meatloaf dinners to enjoy in our room with a glass of Frogs Leap red wine from plastic cups. Definitely the least fancy anniversary we have had, but it was one I don’t think I will forget it in a hurry!

Sundowners 

Romantic dinner for 2 :)