The Grand Canyon National Park is massive. Much larger than most people realise. Over the last 5 million years, the Colorado River has carved out a canyon that is 277 miles long, at parts 18 miles wide and is 1 mile deep. People have been visiting the Canyon since the 1890s and the Grand Canyon village at the South Rim consists of many buildings that were built in the early 1900s.
The visitor centre at the South Rim is where we started our explorations. The first thing that struck everyone in the group was just how well the National Park is set up. The facilities were outstanding. Most impressive was the multitude of free shuttle buses that run every 30 minutes taking you to various points around the South Rim. 6 of us decided to take the shuttle bus to the furthest point on the bus circuit and walk back along the edge of the rim. If it became too much for anyone, they could catch the bus back. Doing this hike meant we only saw a couple of other people for the first three hours. We had the view to ourselves. Surprisingly, considering we were only walking, the view changed dramatically every few metres. The difference in the light levels made such a difference too – it was difficult at times to keep walking – you wanted just to stare at the changing scene in front of your eyes. Unfortunately for the budding photographers, there was a haze in the air so the photos taken were disappointing and did not do justice to the magnificence of the place.
After the 41 degree heat of yesterday, todays temperature of just 28 degrees felt much more pleasant and after 4 hours we had strolled our way back to the village. I say stroll, though at some points the narrow 30cm lose gravel path got very close to the edge of the rim. At other places, in particular the built up viewpoints with their own shuttle bus stop, the path was flat, concreted over, up to 2m wide and suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs. We were soon to learn that all the national parks take accessibility seriously.
There were hundreds of people in the village area. Its been a long time since I saw tourist crowds of such numbers. This central area is where you can descend down into the canyon. To walk to the bottom can take as little as 3 hours but its getting back up again that’s tough. It can take up to 9 hours to ascend so it is recommended to camp overnight at the bottom. As it was now mid-afternoon, very crowded and very warm, I decided on a very mini hike. I walked down for 20 mins then spent the next 40 mins climbing up again. That was enough for me!
After a refreshing pint of cider at the historic hotel bar we continued walking east. We stopped at various lookouts and viewpoints before choosing one to watch the sunset from. Luck was against us again. We saw part of the sunset before the weather turned. We were at a very open, exposed part of the park with no shade or coverage. We decided to call it a day and as quickly as possible head towards the car park where the bus would be waiting to pick us up, after all it was half past 7 and we had walked a total of 16 miles already. We got to our bus as the heavens opened and although I didn’t get to watch the sunset over the canyon, I did get to watch an amazing electrical storm with vivid lightning. It was another hour before all the rest of the party returned. Two of the chaps had found a great sheltered spot within the canyon and had seen an impressive sunset but to be honest, I was so shattered by this point, I was just happy to be sat down. By 10pm, we were at a campsite, and after eating a bowl of hot chilli, I was crawling utterly exhausted into my sleeping bag.
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