Besides having seen it from the sky as I’ve flown over it, I had never been to the Grand Canyon. And as Bob and I were traveling through Arizona on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, this was my golden opportunity. Bob had been there before but he gladly added it to our itinerary at my request. I’ve heard some stories about how when people arrive there, they say things like “yep, that’s a big hole.” So I don’t want sound quite that trite, but there is no doubt about it: it was a big hole.
We left Monument Valley that morning at around 8:30am, immediately crossing into Arizona. Parts of what we had just explored had been in Arizona, and I had briefly crossed over the border at the Hoover Dam four years earlier, but for all intents and purposes, this was really my first time exploring the state. We stopped at a town called Cameron a couple of hours into the drive to grab a breakfast sandwich and then moved on.
Breakfast in Cameron. Bob drinks milk.
Bob and I arrived on the East Rim side of the Grand Canyon National Park at around 11:40am. We flashed Bob’s annual pass, got our map, and made our way in. As noon rolled around, we found the natural place to make our first stop: The Grand Canyon Watchtower. This building had first been opened in 1933 to serve as a rest area and gift shop – which is exactly what it was today. The goal was to provide the widest possible view of the Grand Canyon, whist aesthetically harmonizing with its setting. I bought my magnet and went up in it, after getting my first ground level view of the Grand Canyon.
Entrance to the park on the East Rim
Bob joins me for a photo at the sign
My first view of the Grand Canyon – taken from the Watchtower area
Whoa – that thing is big. That’s what…
The Grand Canyon minus my mug. Pictures can never do it justice.
Mentally preparing to enter the Watchtower
The Watchtower. I went all along it.
The view from inside the top of the Watchtower
Bob and me, ready to move on to the next lookout point
My first thoughts: majestic, beautiful, God’s incredible creation. I had never seen anything quite like it. I wanted to embrace the moment and take lots of pictures. But after I had finished, I asked myself the question: but what is there to do here to get the full Grand Canyon experience? I was too heavy to ride down on a mule, and not quite up for any strenuous hiking.
So after enjoying the view from The Watchtower for about a half hour, we moved on, stopping at Lipan Point and checking out the view from there. Beautiful. And then we stopped at Moran Point. Beautiful. More of the same. And finally, by 1:30, we stopped at Grandview Point. This is where I decided that I was in fact going to attempt a hike.
The view from Lipan Point
Getting more daring
Okay now this is huge. That’s…
The view from Moran Point
I needed a ‘gutsy’ picture to impress Jamie with. The people behind me kind of ruined the effect.
I popped in my iPod earphones to listened to a mix CD that Jamie had made me, and headed downward. My hike lasted about twenty minutes from start to finish. For starters, I was experiencing some knee pain as I walked down into the canyon. But that didn’t cause me to give up. The ice and another hiker who told me that rangers were advising that we not go any further than we were did. So I sat for a bit, overlooking the canyon, listening to Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol, and then turning around a hiking back up. This part didn’t bother my knee, but my lungs weren’t all that happy. This was as close as I got with any sort of true Grand Canyon experience.
The view from Grandview Point
Getting ready to set out on my hike
A few incredible moments, sitting, listening to tunes, and overlooking this incredible creation
As far as I got on the trail
Bob and I then stopped at the Grand Canyon Visitors Center to inquire about the Grand Canyon Skywalk that I had heard about, which is a glass bridge hovering over the canyon. But unfortunately this Indian-tribe-owned attraction was several hours away – on the Grand Canyon West side of the region. So I bought Jamie another postcard and we went in search of our room.
Stamping Jamie’s postcard
One neat thing, although not very convenient, about the Grand Canyon was that the lodging area seemed to be frozen in time – with lodges that looked like they were from the 70’s, Ours, the Thunderbird Lodge, was in fact built in 1968). We had to check in at the even-older Bright Angel Lodge (built in 1935), and then find a place to park, which was nearly disastrous. We drove around in circles, passing mules that we couldn’t ride, until Bob finally gave up and told me to find a place while he unloaded some luggage. I found a spot in front of one of the Bright Angel cabins.
Bob spent some time exploring, and I spent some time napping, after checking out the so-so view of the Canyon (and motel rooftop) from our window. I met Bob over at the Arizona Room, which was part of the Bright Angel Lodge, for dinner at 5:15. The crowds lined up waiting for the doors to open at 5:30. As two of the first ones in, we did get a nice table next to the window, a very enthusiastic waitress, and a pretty good smoked turkey breast sandwich.
The view before dinner from The Arizona Room near our lodge
Eating dinner with the Grand Canyon outside our window
The view after dinner. The Canyon is about the same, but I’m a little bit larger. By the way, did anyone notice my t-shirt?
Having seen everything we could and wanted to see at the Grand Canyon itself, as the sun went down, we left the park to go see a movie. Although I’m not sure why anyone – including us – would leave the actual Grand Canyon to go see the 7:30 screening of the Imax Grand Canyon Movie, it was touted as the “most watched movie of all time.” It was a neat re-enactment of ancient Grand Canyon discovery and exploration, but it would have been better in 3-D. We did get a free gift bag that included a granola bar though.
If you think that the Grand Canyon is impressive in person, just wait until you see it in a movie!
The film was only about 40 minutes, so we headed back to the Thunderbird Lodge at about 8:15. Internet access was limited to the Bright Angel Lodge lobby only (like it was in the 70’s), so I went there to get on Facebook and send Jamie some pics of the day’s events. Bob was finally able to get some cell phone reception and called silent Our Gang member Lassie Lou Ahern, who lived in nearby Prescott Valley. Unfortunately, she had misunderstood our itinerary and had been expecting us the day before, so our visit with her got nixed. Bummer.
The Grand Canyon is one of America’s major attractions and I was glad to have finally gotten the chance to see it and briefly explore it.
The road trip, now in Arizona, will continue…
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