Grand Canyon - any tips?

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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We're heading for Grand Canyon Fall '19. Will be in the motorhome, probably stay in Flagstaff.

Who's been and wants to tell me about your trip and share tips?
 

Kyle

ULTRA-F###ING-MAGA!
PREMO Member
We're heading for Grand Canyon Fall '19. Will be in the motorhome, probably stay in Flagstaff.

Who's been and wants to tell me about your trip and share tips?

No tip, as I've never been there, but are you going to do the glass walkway?
 

glhs837

Power with Control
Yep, the collective demends some cool glass walkway pics. :) Is there anything there to commerorate any of the canyon jump attempts? I would avoid any helicopter tours. :)
 

Toxick

Splat
We're heading for Grand Canyon Fall '19. Will be in the motorhome, probably stay in Flagstaff.

Who's been and wants to tell me about your trip and share tips?



I've been.

No tips. Just enjoy the view!




I found it breathtaking. My wife found it to be a big uninteresting hole in the ground.
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
You will not be able to do any real driving in the park - you can only drive so far and then have to take buses around the rim area. No matter - it is worth every minute - the views are spectacular. If you want to take a real hike, the rim to rim is about 23 miles long, and will take a well conditioned adult about 16 - 18 hours to do it. I did it once, and never, ever, again. Left before dawn, about 0400 on Bright Angel Trail, hiked down, across the river, up the north rim, and back, Got back around 2200 with a bit of daylight left. Vertigo is a possibility standing on the edge of the rim or even on the trails, so watch your step. If you sit in one spot for three or four hours, the color change is amazing. I don't think the skywalk is in the park, but on the reservation by the Crazy Horse carving. You will not regret any part of your visit at all. The North rim is much less accessible, but no crowds, and at places 1600 feet higher in elevation, so a jacket or sweatshirt handy would be a good idea.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
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You will not be able to do any real driving in the park - you can only drive so far and then have to take buses around the rim area. No matter - it is worth every minute - the views are spectacular. If you want to take a real hike, the rim to rim is about 23 miles long, and will take a well conditioned adult about 16 - 18 hours to do it. I did it once, and never, ever, again. Left before dawn, about 0400 on Bright Angel Trail, hiked down, across the river, up the north rim, and back, Got back around 2200 with a bit of daylight left. Vertigo is a possibility standing on the edge of the rim or even on the trails, so watch your step. If you sit in one spot for three or four hours, the color change is amazing. I don't think the skywalk is in the park, but on the reservation by the Crazy Horse carving. You will not regret any part of your visit at all. The North rim is much less accessible, but no crowds, and at places 1600 feet higher in elevation, so a jacket or sweatshirt handy would be a good idea.

Did you go to the reservation?

I'm thinking we'll probably have to stay a month in Flagstaff just to be able to see everything in that general area.
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Did you go to the reservation?

I'm thinking we'll probably have to stay a month in Flagstaff just to be able to see everything in that general area.

Yes, we did. They were just building the skywalk, and chipping away on the carving. Be prepared to pay, but it is worth it, in my opinion. We stayed in Williams, just south of the south rim entrance, and the terminus of the Grand Canyon Railroad. You might want to consider that as home base.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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Yes, we did. They were just building the skywalk, and chipping away on the carving. Be prepared to pay, but it is worth it, in my opinion. We stayed in Williams, just south of the south rim entrance, and the terminus of the Grand Canyon Railroad. You might want to consider that as home base.

Thanks! I am considering Williams because it seems more centrally located and would make more sense.
 

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
I went to the west rim (take 40 west from Flagstaff). It was off the beaten path with not a ton of tourists. The west rim is part of the Hualapai Indian Reservation so there will be indian "artifacts" for sale. The west rim (like other parts of the Canyon, I imagine) offers river rafting, helicopter tours, zip lining, and a skywalk but I went to Guano Point where there once existed a bat guano farming operation (they tried using it as fertilizer back in the 1930s). An old tram that crosses the canyon exists, a deli, and small market, but that's about it.
https://www.grandcanyonwest.com/grand-canyon-west.htm

I will say that pictures don't do the Canyon justice. It's absolutely awe-inspiring the sheer size and scope of the Canyon that can only be experienced there.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I went to the west rim (take 40 west from Flagstaff). It was off the beaten path with not a ton of tourists. The west rim is part of the Hualapai Indian Reservation so there will be indian "artifacts" for sale. The west rim (like other parts of the Canyon, I imagine) offers river rafting, helicopter tours, zip lining, and a skywalk but I went to Guano Point where there once existed a bat guano farming operation (they tried using it as fertilizer back in the 1930s). An old tram that crosses the canyon exists, a deli, and small market, but that's about it.
https://www.grandcanyonwest.com/grand-canyon-west.htm

I will say that pictures don't do the Canyon justice. It's absolutely awe-inspiring the sheer size and scope of the Canyon that can only be experienced there.

Thanks!

Monello has been itching to get back west, so I'm sure a week or two isn't going to cut it.
 

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express right outside the south rim gate. We went in the park that evening to take some beautiful sunset photos. We went back in the morning and hiked around the rim. We drove along the rim to the east entrance/exit and stopped at all the scenic overlooks.
 

Toxick

Splat
Tell me about your trip. How long were you there? Where did you stay? What did you do?

Well, we lived in Tucson for a while. One day we were out and about and decided on a whim to head up to the Grand Canyon.

It was October. In Tucson, that means it was somewhere between 90 and 100 outside, and we were looking for a lunchtime picnic area in the Catalina Mountains, so the family was dressed in shorts and tanktops. The Grand Canyon came up in passing conversation, and I said, "Wanna go?". She said yes, and we turned the jeep around and drove across town and hopped on Rt 10 headed north.

6 hours later, we're in Flagstaff.... where there was snow on the ground and it was about 30 degrees outside. We continued up Rt 89 for a while and somewhere between Flagstaff and the Canyon we found a Day's Inn (The name Lee's Ferry seems to be ringing a bell in my head, but I'm not totally sure). So, snow on the ground and dressed for the beach, I ran inside the hotel and turned the heat on, while my wife and kids waited in the car for the room to become inhabitable. Eventually we got the kids nestled in, and I went off to buy clothes and jackets for everyone.

The next morning, we hopped back on 89 and drove north till the road ended. We started hiking northward and the density of people told us we were headed in the right direction. I remember clearing a bunch of trees and there it was.

Majestic as ####!

I stopped and just stared at it for a few minutes. My oldest (5 at the time) was the only one of the kids who had any idea what was happening. I had as close to a religious experience as I've ever had. My wife, as I mentioned before, was unimpressed. "It's nice" she said.


In my opinion, saying "It's nice" about the Grand Canyon was like telling someone standing in the path of a tsunami that they fixin ta get "damp".

There's a glass outcropping somewhere along the canyon now. It didn't exist when we were there, and honestly I have no idea how far away we were from it's eventual site. The place we landed was very undeveloped. Very wilderness-y, and I am very glad of that. And, of course, my oldest kept screaming to hear his echo.




After he heard me do it first.

We stayed until lunchtime or so, then found a restaurant and visited a couple shops then headed on home. I was going to suggest we go by Winston and visit the Crater hole, but I couldn't imagine that would have been received any better than the canyon.
 
Love the Grand Canyon! No way to escape tourist so just prepare for that. Stayed at the El Tovar in the park. For the skywalk, no personal cameras or phones allowed. And you wear their slip on booties. They will take your pic but best to know how you want to pose since it's a little rushed depending on the crowd. I would have preferred to spend more time on the glass. Overall worth it but I liked the south rim better. My favorite spot not to miss is the Lowell Observatory. Enjoy!
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Looks like we'll be spending a month in the GC area! Oh the humanity.
 
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