
44 - See the Grand Canyon
Completed: July 1, 2006
It was breathtaking. It was incredible. Words and pictures do not do it justice. I'm so glad I went, despite getting up at 5 a.m. after going to bed at 3 a.m. to get a tour bus, sitting for five hours with a screaming child behind me, thinking we were going to topple over the cliffs into the Hoover Dam... it was amazing. We got there just as the rain had passed through, walked up this little hill, through the clearing of the trees... and everyone goes, "Holy cow!" or something along those lines. That first glimpse of the canyon in front of you, as far as your eye can see... is something that everyone should experience, just for the natural beauty of it.
I loved the fact that, after being in Las Vegas, the canyon isn't glamorized at all. There aren't photographers running around, trying to take your picture and then sell it back to you for $40. There aren't neon lights advertising wedding specials. It's very natural. Oh, there are gift shops where you can buy your $20 T-shirt, but they are inside little wooden lodges.
My only regret was not being able to spend as much time there as I'd like. We only had two hours, broken up over two different lookout points over the South Rim. I would love to hike down the Bright Angel trail. Maybe not camp out on the bottom and climb the other side the next day, but hike down and take a mule up. Seriously, they have that. Amazing.
PS - I took that picture up there! Plenty more where that came from! =)