The Grand... Canyon!

View from Ooh Aah Point on the South Kaibab Trail.

I've travelled a bit. I've seen a few of the things that regularly make it onto those Seven Wonders of the World lists - like Victoria Falls, the Great Barrier Reef and the Taj Mahal. Plus a few that occasionally make it onto those lists - like Halong Bay and Angkor Wat. I know this is utterly shameless travel name dropping but I do have a point!

Before I saw any of these things (and the Taj Mahal was the first one I saw), I always kind of thought those lists were a bit overwrought. You know the feeling - someone talks something up so much that the reality is inevitably a let down. Let me tell you, I've been wrong about that every single time. The Taj blew my mind. The Great Barrier Reef is incredible (although get there fast I reckon, in the five years between my two visits it's gone downhill significantly). And so on and so on.

The Grand Canyon certainly doesn't disappoint. We arrived late in the day, and due to our previous difficulties with getting where we wanted to go (see last post) we hadn't booked accommodation, just in case, so we were rushing through the park trying to make it to the lodge where we wanted to stay to make sure they didn't book up all their cheap rooms before we got there, so my first glimpse of the canyon was in the dark, through the window of a rapidly-ish (icy roads remember) moving car, and it was still amazing! It only got better. Here's some of Will's photos to prove it... (and photo tips for the canyon are here)

Last light fading on the canyon, Grand Canyon Village.

Sunrise with the sun fighting the clouds, Maricopa Point.

First light hits the north rim, Maricopa Point.

Sunlight finally starts to warm us at Maricopa Point.

Sunrise continued, Maricopa Point.

A Mule Deer found grazing near Maricopa Point

View from near the top of the South Kaibab Trail.

Western Scrub Jay, South Kaibab Trailhead.

Jackie on the South Kaibab Trail.

Note: a few of these photos are available for purchase if you are interested.