Karen HealeyOur first view of the Grand Canyon National Park was at Mather Point. This is typically where most people view the Grand Canyon for the first time and it did not disappoint! We spent two full days at the Grand Canyon, plus we stopped at a few overlooks on the way to Page, Arizona, heading out the East Entrance. During that time, we did a lot of walking, including a hike part of the way into the canyon, and we took in a sunset. I took so many pictures, it was difficult to choose, but below are some of my favorites.
Our hike was on the Kaibab Trail down to Cedar Ridge, and it was a very busy trail. At the halfway point, the very crowded Ooh Aah point, many people turned around but we continued on. Our hike brought us about 1/3 of the way into the canyon, 1000 feet down which gave us a 3 mile hike. It was pretty easy going down because the trail was well traveled and maintained, but, as you can imagine, the mile and a half back up was strenuous. We saw several hikers who went deeper into the canyon, some even prepared to camp. A hike like that is for more experienced, physically fit hikers than we are.
I really wanted to see a sunset at the Grand Canyon. The one we saw was nice, but there were no clouds so it wasn’t as magnificent as I had hoped. After the sun went down, I took a shot of the canyon facing the other direction and the deeper colors are quite beautiful.
We wrapped up our trip, heading to Page, Arizona, by way of the East Entrance of the park. In our opinion, some of the most spectacular views were along that 25 mile stretch of road, and this section of the park was much quieter too. We would definitely suggest that anyone coming to the Grand Canyon be sure to take a ride down this road. Just before we left the park, we stopped the Desert View Watchtower, and you can see that the canyon becomes much more shallow, no longer “Grand” but still very beautiful.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this virtual tour of the Grand Canyon! We also visited Canyonlands, which some people say is better than the Grand Canyon. Check out my Canyonlands post to see if you agree!
