We were short of time and needed a quick tour only. So we went, just in time to watch the sunset, the night stay and watch the sun-rise again.
Inspite of all preparation, what we did not prepare for was the chilly, windy Yavapai Point on the South Rim. We were chilly to our chattering teeth, watching the damn Sun to set asap. In hindsight, ofcourse that was the fun part :)
But there are a lot of things to do in GC. Trekking, camping. Different lodges with well-prepared shopping mart with everything available. You dont feel like you are in the middle of a really grand forest.
Morning, we drove along the East Rim, stopping at every point for a view of the GC from different angles.
On the East Rim, we covered Yaki Point, Shoshone Point , Grandview Point, Moran Point and Zuni Point. And Mohave Point on the West Rim.
After watching this, now I know what 'Grand' means !
By afternoon, we started our drive back to LA. This time we took a route, that skipped Las Vegas. the desert, sand strom, that is something best experienced. 100s of miles of desert. No habitat.
GRAND CANYON was truly an experience.
- The drive to there was via 100s of miles of desert with brown stones, almost Star Trek like.
- Faced a never before seen desert storm, which was blinding & scary the way it shook our car.
- Throughout the drive, I was expecting the Canyons to rise like the ones in Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movie & was getting disappointed as we reached closer. Finally when we parked & went to the viewing spot, oh it took our breath away. Until then I had only Mahabaleshwar for canyon reference & this was 100 times bigger.
- Now we were going to a hot state in middle of July expecting nothing but hot weather, but the viewing spot turned out to be so windy & cold - we were scavenging our bags to wrap around anything we could to save ourselves. So ironical that we Minnesotans did not have any hoodie or jacket at hand. After this experience almost everyone advised us to take jackets to GC.
