With my alarm set just before 6 I was up and out in time for the sunrise over the Grand Canyon. Keith decided to stay in bed so I set off to the West of our hotel where we had watch the sunset the previous evening. A lovely couple from Ohio started chatting to me after she realised I was English after exchanging "good mornings". Love how the Americans have very set views about us, his first question was have you been to Scotland? is it lovely? Is it easy to get to the place Downton Abbey is set! Oh and the Harry Potter castle? Did you all really love the royal wedding?!
After watching the sun rise I popped back to change shoes as my feet were cold in the sandles I'd slipped on and went out again to explore a little to the east of our hotel.
After getting Keith out of bed we packed the cases, popped them in the car and went to find some breakfast. The restaurant at Bright Angel was still closedwith kitchen problems so we popped into the cafe to grab a coffee and cinnamon bun each and sat outside looking at the canyon while we ate and watched a chipmunk darting around.
We had a quick wander along the rim and ventured a little way down the Bright Angel Trail just to get "in the canyon" before heading back to the hotel to check out. We also popped in the gift shop to buy a magnet (the first of my collection for this trip!).
We took the car and headed east to the visitor centre. Wow, the view of the canyon from here was in our opinion better than from our hotel site. We wandered along the rim for an hour or so before reluctantly leaving.
We planned to stop at a couple of stops/view points as we headed along Desert View Drive (east road in and out of the park). First stop was an unsignposted stop where a few cars were parked (I now know this was Shoshone Point). We started walking through the forest in the general direction of the rim. I asked one of the returning walkers if we were actually heading for a good view. They assured us we were and to make sure we walked all the way to the point. About 15 minutes later we found it and oh wow what a find it was. Just one other person there and over 180° of the most amazing view of the canyon. Stunning. This really is a "point" jutting out into the canyon. We just sat there looking at it, both reluctant to leave. Eventually we headed back to the car, the sun was starting to get hot and it was only 10am.
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| Sitting at the end of this narrow peninsula was my favourite part of the day |
Our next stop was Desert View Watchtower, again a really stunning view we also grabbed some sandwiches for lunch here which we ate in the air conned car! There were also view points alongside the road which were fabulous. We have been totally blown away by the views of the Grand Canyon today.
We needed to get on the road and set off to Page. We had a quick stop at Cameron to fuel up. We then headed north through more changing landscapes most notably high red rock mountains. We were looking for a pull off for Horseshoe Bend and thought we had missed it but it was actually only a couple of miles outside Page.
We parked up in the car park, grabbed some bottles of water out of the cool box and headed up the sandy path. At the top we saw there was a steep downward slope to the view point (remember what goes down has to come back up!😥). We joined the crowds at the edge. Amazing views of the Colorado river as it meanders it's way round the bend. Tourist boats on the water gave a feel of how far down the canyon was and also how wide the river actually is. So easy to lose a sense of size and distance amongst the canyons.
We started the walk back. OMG so steep and hot, really hardwork! After a couple of rest stops we made it. In hindsight mid afternoon in 85° heat was probably not the best time to tackle this short but hilly walk!
It was just a quick drive from there to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express). After a quick shower we headed out to get drinks and a hat for Keith from Wal-Mart.
Feeling hungry now we drove into the centre of Page and eventually found a small grill restaurant where I had steak and fries and Keith had a Philly cheese sandwich and fries. Bit of a different place than we would normally go but food was nice.
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| picture from google maps |
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