It was on my mom's bucket list to visit the Grand Canyon for her 70th birthday, and we were excited to plan that trip and make it happen. But the Grand Canyon is pretty hard to visit in November - snowy, cold weather can take away from the experience. So we looked into mid-March, during Britton's spring break, and we knew that would work well - low 30s in the morning, up to the 70s during the day, and a chance of snow.
When my mom pulled out of the trip, we still wanted to go - the kids were looking forward to it, we'd planned excursions and researched the best places to stop, and the hubs had committed to driving all 20 hours each way.
We left early on a Saturday morning, and arrived in Flagstaff on Sunday evening. Bright and early on Monday morning, we got up and headed north to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The fog was thick and low, and part of me was scared that we wouldn't be able to see the canyon at all. But the fog began to lift to the top of the canyon, and we parked at the Watchtower to go see it for the first time.
This is my first view of the Grand Canyon:
It didn't seem real, How does something like that exist? I saw a quote in the park that sums it up perfectly:
"No language can fully describe, no artist paint the beauty, grandeur, immensity and sublimity of this most wonderful production of Nature's great architect The Grand Canyon must be seen to be appreciated." ~C.O. Hall, Grand Canyon visitor, 1895
We hiked up the stairs in the Watchtower to see even farther over the canyon. Whew, we got a great view up there too, but the windows were too fogged for decent pictures.
The low clouds, which I had thought would be a problem, actually ended up creating beautiful shadowing and coloring on the canyon walls. We came back through this area in the afternoon, when all the fog and clouds had burned off, and the harshness of the sun gave the canyon a much different feel. The morning was the perfect time to see the canyon.
It scared me to do it, but Britton and I hiked a few steps down onto a large ledge. She is much more fearless than me!
Do you see that little spot of blue in the middle of the photo below? That's the Colorado River, which was frozen in some parts! That spot is "Rock Bottom" - straight from the sign: It took more than 5 million years, grinding through more than 4,000 feet of younger rocks, for the river to cut to the Vishnu Basement rock. The river has reached the foundation of the continent, and won't erude any further.
We stopped in at all the lookouts from the east - Lipan Point, Moran Point, Grandview Point, Yaki Point, Yavapai Point, Mather Point, and then the visitor's center. I had read that the entrance from the east, going in west, on the south rim, would give the best vantage points, and it was so true! Each viewpoint or lookout offered unique views, and a new experience.
The Grand Canyon, while breathtaking and astounding, was just the first of many incredible stops on our trip!
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