Grand Canyon

 Hi, we are finished with the Grand Canyon.  Here are the highlights:

We arrived on Wednesday to Thunderbird Lodge in Grand Canyon Village.  It was quite a challenge to find parking anywhere close enough to lug the Yeti and all our other stuff to the room.  If all the folks from California would go home it would have been easy!  They are all here to escape the smoke/fire situation so you really cannot blame them!

We watched the sunset and had a nice meal in El Tovar Lodge.  The clouds really make this pretty...

By the time we were done with dinner (and because AZ does not do Daylight Savings) the stars were out so that was an added treat! Happily we found the path and did not fall into the canyon on the way back to the lodge... helpful sign -

On Thursday we went for a helicopter ride over the Canyon!  It was super, super cool!  We even got to sit in the front seat! At the check-in there were "feet" on the floor - we just assumed it was more Covid labeling to keep us 6 feet apart.  Oops - nope - that was the scale for weigh in for the flight.  Duh.  The attendant laughed pretty hard when I told her .... LOL

We wore noise-cancelling headphones for the flight.  The pilot did narrate a little but mostly it was music.  The play list included: "Highway to the Danger Zone", "Die Walkuere", "Star Wars Theme", "Fly like an Eagle", "Wonderful World", "Everything is gonna be alright" and more!

This video shows the moment we flew over the South Rim and entered the Canyon.

This was a super cool way to experience the Grand Canyon!  Some pictures from the ride:

After this we headed back into the park to have a look along the east side of the rim.  There are several picnic and/or overlook areas to visit.  We wanted to see Desert View Watchtower but it was closed (Covid) but, that's ok.  We had plenty of different views along the way.  We had a nice picnic at Buggeln Overlook.

Final stop for today was the Visitor Center area.  The Visitor Center is closed but the bookstore was open and of course the Rim Trail is a nice area to explore.

Today (Friday) we walked along Rim Trail in a section called "Trail of Time" where they describe the timeframe in which the various rock formations in the canyon were created.  They have samples of the various rocks that you can touch.  Round-trip this was about 4 miles but it was nicely paved and pleasant early in the morning.  The geology here is really interesting!

After lunch we took the Red Line in the direction of Hermits Rest, stopping at 9 stops on the way up and back.  Basically each stop gives you a new view of the canyon.  Here are some pictures from today:

The funniest thing that we saw today was a couple of Elk drinking from a water fountain near one of the bathrooms:

There was a lady there that thought it would be a good idea for her to press the button for the Elk.  Um.... no, these are wild animals and actually they can be quite aggressive!  Best to leave them alone!

Tonight we will pack up and get ready to head to Phoenix and Tucson to see some folks from Pinnacle (Sheri's old job) - then on Monday we head home!  This has truly been an amazing vacation, packed with so many natural wonders!  The National Parks are a treasure!  We definitely have seen the impact of Covid but overall I believe that the Parks were less crowded than usual.  

Estimated total mileage all the way home - 7,500 miles  - it has been great!  We hope that you have enjoyed following us along our journey.

Take Care,

Sheri & Carsten

I cannot report on any long hikes, the elevation gain/loss on the trails here is just nuts - 2600 feet down - and then you have to come back up.  No thanks - we are approaching our maximum with an estimated 370,000 steps since 9/6.