Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

After all the excitement of the last week, we were worried that the Grand Canyon would be a bit of a tourist trap and would take away from our enjoyment. Fortunately we were wrong. We spent 4 days in the park in our RV and had a great time.

It started on day 1 with a long drive into the park's North Rim, which is 1000 feet higher than the more accessible and more touristy South Rim. It was well worth it as we left before sunrise and got there with the Grand Canyon to ourselves! If you look closely in the first picture you can see me dwarfed by just one tiny section of the canyon. It was wonderful and no picture can really get across the sheer size of the canyon. It is a mile deep and the Colorado River appears like a piece of string running through it's 227 mile length!

Unfortunately even though the South Rim is a mere 10 miles across from the North Rim, it involves a 220 mile round trip. (Can't someone build a bridge across it?? So inconsiderate!) With the old faithful RV chugging along at a top speed of 65 mph we eventually arrived at sunset over on the other side. It was slightly disheartening to look over at where we had been standing that morning.

Even though the South Rim was a lot busier than the North Rim it has a lot more opportunities to hike down into the canyon. We spent 2 days hiking down and back out as one of the options (to camp down by the river at the bottom and climb back out the next day) we were unable to do. The campsite gets booked up 1 year in advance!!

Before we continue with the hiking info I need to tell you about a sad loss of a holiday companion. It's not another of my watches, it's much worse than that. We have broken the camera. Bad, I'm sure you will agree but worse when you consider it's not ours. Sorry Dad! I'm not one to point fingers but Anna assures me it fell from the shelf whilst she was charging it! Judging by the dent I suspect that she swung it around by the wire and smashed it repeatedly in to the floor! We have a liking for taking pictures so when we found out the issue just before we set off on our hike we had only one choice; an instant disposable camera. There is nothing quite as unsatisfying as the combined plastic and metallic twang of a disposable camera taking a picture but it was all we had for a couple of days.

So hiking. Unable to camp we resorted to 2 day hikes in to the canyon. The warning signs say not to hike from the rim to the river and back in a day. It's 9 miles one way and an elevation change of 5000 feet. We heeded those warings. On the first day we hiked the Bright Angel trail. 9.5 miles return with an elevation change of 3000 feet. It's funny hiking in to a canyon. Normally when you hike you do all the hard work (walking up hill) first, sit and enjoy the view then coast back down. Obviously not in the canyon. The pain comes at the end of the day and the steepest part of the trip is the last mile and a half out of the canyon.

Pleased with our performance on day one (we got in and out faster than it suggested, but then the guide is written for a country that doesn't normally walk anywhere) we decided to have another go the next day. We hit the Kaibab trail and hiked 3 miles to Skeleton Point 2000 feet in to the canyon. This was a much better view as it was further in to the canyon and was a very nice spot to stop and have a picnic overlooking the Colorado River before the 3 mile drag up hill to get out.

By day 3 all we could manage was walking the rim trail to the lookouts which is flat. Surprisingly the rim is a lot busier than the downhill/uphill trails. Fear not though the Americans are not walking. They hop off the shuttle bus, take some photos then jump back on for the 0.5 mile journey to the next lookout!


The Grand Canyon was alot better than I think either of us expected. We will hopefully go back one day and make a booking to hike down to the river and stay.

Good news. We have a new camea. Bad news. We have no idea how to work it. Don't worry. I'm not going to lower myself to reading the instructions!