On our second full day at the Grand Canyon we hiked one of (apparently) the World’s most famous hikes, or rather we did a portion of it as it’s a multi-day hike if you do the full thing from the South rim to the North rim, down in to the canyon and back up the other side. Anyway, we went around 2 miles down in to the Canyon on the Bright Angel trail, before having to climb back up again which was a reasonably steep ascent.

There were some great views of the Canyon on the hike, and it was still quite snowy and icy in places, but generally pretty clear and well-maintained. It was a narrow, winding path zig-zagging down the edge of the canyon but we even saw some (lazy) people riding mules down the path which seemed a good way to cover more ground and have a more leisurely trip. Full cowboy gear too which we liked.

In the afternoon we hiked along the rim trail from the village back towards the visitor centre, about a 4 mile walk which we’d done on the day we arrived at the Grand Canyon but had not been able to see any of the views because of the snow and fog which completely blocked our view that day (see here if you missed it). This time we had great views out over the canyon and it was a really sunny and pretty warm afternoon. We regretted not taking a couple of sneaky beers out with us.

We also went to the other end of the national park area along the scenic road which comes in from the East, the same road we weren’t able to take when we came here as it was shut because of the ice and snow and caused us to detour massively to get here. Anyway, we were able to drive down there this time as it was re-opened, to a place called Desert Point where there’s an old stone tower, and other views out over the canyon.

We stopped at the visitor centre to watch their 20 minute film about the area which was very interesting, then caught the shuttle bus back to the local “tavern” for a local beer, before going back to our hotel to have a pizza and watch some of the darts. Yep, just like being back home 🙂 We are not live with the darts, so no spoilers anyone!

Tomorrow we are leaving the Grand Canyon to move on to our next stop which is Sedona, Arizona. On the way we plan to stop at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, and also Meteor Crater. Pics and details to follow tomorrow.

Si