July 22nd, 2016

So we landed a great campsite at the southeast entrance to the Grand Canyon, about 25 miles from the main Visitor Center.  More on that later.

The entrance to the park, from Tusayan.  We found out we can just buy an annual pass for $80 that covers all National Parks in the USA.  You’d need to visit 2.5+ to make it worthwhile and since we’re visiting at least 5 on this trip…definitely worth the money for us.

As soon as we drive in, there’s wildlife.  Apparently people feed them here too (you’re not supposed to).  Never been 8 feet from an elk before…not sure that’s a good thing.

A deer a few feet down from the elk. No fear in these animals.

After setting up at our campsite for the next couple of nights, we began to tour the canyon from the road stops.  It’s about 25 miles from Desert View Campgrounds to the main Visitor Center (at the south entrance) and there are a lot of turn offs to catch views of the canyon.  That first time seeing it was indescribable.  Awesome is the best word for it.  We had no sense of scale really – you know it’s vast and that even the furthest point below is thousands of feet below you in elevation, but it’s still hard to comprehend.

JA gazes.  Every stop, every time we look, there’s that feeling of wonder and amazement.  It didn’t go away.

Even the rim of the canyon is pretty.

A little island of rock from which to gaze from.

JA likes to hang his feet over cliffs.  I can look over edges, but watching him do this gives me a mild heart attack every time.  One wrong move and you’re a goner here.

Gingerly scooting backwards off the outcropping.

From JA’s camera, it’s a definite drop.

I haven’t built up the courage to hang my feet off yet.  Even wandering close to the edge makes me doubt my ability to keep upright and not fall off into that abyss.

Another stop, Moran Point – there’s a little island of rock that no one seems to be standing on…the view has to be great, right?

JA searches for a way down.  There’s not really a good area to drop off to to get over that we can find easily – it’s a good 10-foot drop to the level below us and it’s not a wide ledge by any means.  Neither of us is interested in trying that drop or climbing down; one wrong step and you’re falling into the canyon.

…but I really want to go over there and after exploring extensively, I find a narrow path, with some minor climbing, that might get us across.

Here’s where it starts, after climbing down some rocks.  It’s narrowish, but perfectly manageable.  Not somewhere I’d want to take kids though.

This is where my height vs JA’s becomes an advantage.  That was our only feasible way across the gap – climbing over those rocks was risky.  But it was little effort for 5’2 me to slip under that rock and across.  JA required a bit more scrunching down.

The area I want to be is directly above us now.

This is from the backside of the ledge we’re on.  The area I want to climb up to is at my back.  This is definitely a gorgeous view.

Another risky little area to get across – easy for me to duck under, not so easy for JA.

With a little more climbing, we’re finally on top.  And we don’t have to deal with all those other visitors.  JA and I have this whole little spot to ourselves.

As predicted, great views.  I love getting to areas that other folks can’t get to.

 

I finally get the courage to hang my feet over.

 

Behind us again, where we were before.

Heading back to the car – couldn’t resist one more pic of JA having to become short to maneuver.

So far, this was the best part of exploring today.

Back to First Traveling Days ::: On to the Grand Canyon, Day 1, Part 2