Grand Canyon USA - September 2012

The Grand Canyon was an amazing place and definitely a "Must See" when coming to America.

I have never seen anything of such magnitude and the photos do not do justice to the beauty of the place.
We stayed on the North Rim for two nights and had the opportunity to have a helicopter ride over the canyon which was awesome and another "Must Do" if you can overcome your fear of heights.  I loved every minute of the helicopter ride as it showed us an aspect of the canyon that could not be re-produced at ground level. I was disappointed  that I could not take my camera equipment in the aircraft as the photos would have been fantastic, however our safety was paramount.   We had a good weather day with great vision and the memory of that flight will stay with me.

Our accommodation at the rim was at Maswik North - Grand Canyon National Park Lodge.  Our rooms were comfortable and were set up like motel blocks scattered through the park with a separate reception, restaurant, gift shop which was a about 5 minutes walk away.  We were about 15 minutes walk from the canyon edge and the bus depot which ferried tourists from one vantage point to another on the North Rim.  Alternatively there were walking trails right along the edge.  The lodge was surrounded by bushland with deers roaming freely.

I was amazed at the state of the paths in some sections.  Some were well protected with fences and barricades, warning signs etc - but other sections the path was right on the edge of straight drops and nothing to prevent a fall..

We travelled from Scottsdale, Arizona to the Grand Canyon via Sedona and arrived at the Grand Canyon in time to view the canyon at sunset.  The next day we had a full day to explore all the walks and I took hundreds of photos as the vista would change every 50 feet or so to a totally different aspect.  We caught the bus out to other vantage points but there were hundreds of tourists doing the same thing so it was a full bus and slow travelling between points.   Lauren & I ventured down the "Bright Angel" Trail which is the same trail to the bottom of the canyon that the mules travel.  We opted to walk down as we did not have time to go the full distance.  Again the trail was narrow in places but would have been one of the easier walks and I would have loved to have got to the bottom of the canyon to experience the view looking upwards.  There are heaps of other walks available but all of them would have taken too much time.

I thought two nights at the Canyon would be ample time there - but we hardly touched the surface.  I was glad of the helicopter ride so we could appreciate that there was a whole lot more to the canyon that what met the eye at the North Rim.

The Grand Canyon was an experience I will not forget and we were lucky to get good weather - hot but with not too much wind which was good when we were close to the edge.