THE 3 MUST DO’S IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE DAY TO EXPLORE THE GRAND CANYON!
We can confirm that photos of the Grand Canyon don’t do it justice, and only because they haven’t yet invented a camera that can fit the whole thing in a portrait. There’s no words to describe the feeling of admiration you get when you first step up to the rim (south or north) and see the incalculability of the chasm spread out before you. The colors, the size, the hues, the natural beauty… it almost doesn’t look real and we promise it will leave you flabbergasted.
At 18 miles wide (28.97 kms), 1 mile deep 1.61 kms), and 277 miles long (445.79 kms) it’s fair to say there’s a lot of canyon to see (hence the word “Grand”). So, whether you’re an expert journeyman, or the enjoyer of an occasional stroll through the back woods of your hometown, there’s always something to see at North America’s Grandest Canyon.
VIEWS FROM THE RIM- MATHER POINT
The view from the South Rim is incredible and not to mention a little overwhelming. You could probably sit there for hours soaking it all in, but to really experience the Canyon in its Grandest form, we strongly urge you to take the time do a short hike down below the rim and see it in a whole different light.
Before we decided to embark on our journey to descend into the Grand Canyon, we joined thousands of other tourists who start their day at Mather Point by observing the vast expanse of the Canyon from the rim. No matter how early you go, this lookout will be jam packed with tourists and foot long selfie sticks.
Mather point is a short walk from the Visitation Center, which explains the traffic, and is the first access point to view the immensity of the Canyon.
WE ARE A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN
While on Mather point, I saw a couple tourists gallivanting on an outstretched platform of rocks which led to an immense view which couldn’t be seen from Mather Point. This is where I learned to keep my mouth closed around Jenna because the minute I mentioned the viewpoint (which is an unmarked spot on Grand Canyon Tourist maps) Jenna was already halfway to it with an undeniable determination to take a picture at the rims edge.
The circle marks the spot!
The journey to the rim edge was no easy task. The first descent is down a steep slope which was slippery due to the small unstable rocks that coated the man-made path, and a lack of fixated objects to grab a hold of. Here’s where disaster nearly struck. Between the two of us, Jenna is a little (okay, a lot) less fearful than I am, which sometimes leads us disagreeing about the route we take on a certain destination. I tend to take the route with the least amount of chances to get hurt, or worse, fall, and Jenna tends to just bulldoze her way through the trail as she sees fit. So, Jenna went one way, which in my opinion wasn’t the safest of ways down the slope, and I went another, more calculated route. As Jenna came to a halt, at a slanted portion of the slope, disaster almost became imminent. Let me backtrack a little to a point I mentioned earlier about Jenna being fearless; when Jenna becomes fearless, she tends to process information with a little less judgment, call it clouded if you will. So, Jenna, again, being fearless, descended the slope HER way. However, due to her undeniable determination to reach the rims edge at record breaking speeds, she forgot her phone was placed in the waist band of her yoga pants, and as you can already imagine, an iPhone 7 almost made a mile long descent to the bottom of the Canyon before its trail was slowed by the same rocks we had difficulty descending on. My immediate reaction was going to be me looking back at her with an “I told you so” face and scold her about taking the safe routes, but I opted to just calmly retrieve the phone and laugh about how we almost lost an entire days’ worth of footage due to negligence.. Ah, gotta love her!
All in all, the view was worth it, and if you’re looking for a little adrenaline rush, you can hike down to the rim that has no name’s edge for a cool shot. Just be warned, it isn’t the easiest of treks downhill and probably isn’t for those who are terrified of heights, as the closer you get to the rim, the more areas there are that can freak you out if you look down.
TAKE A HIKE! LITERALLY – SOUTH KAIBAB TRAIL
So, after Mather Point and our little mishap on unknown rim, we chose to hike down the South Kaibab Trail. We chose it based on time and difficulty level as we wanted to make sure we would be back to the top of the rim to watch the sunset. South Kaibab Trail down to Cedar Ridge (a 3-mile round-trip hike with toilet services) has an elevation of 6120 feet (the Trailhead elevation is 7,260 feet) and is highly recommended as the trail has the most expansive views for a relatively short hike. It’s a good route for first time canyon hikes, casual hikers, and late starters.
The trail has no water services, except for at the trailhead, so you should be prepared with 6-8L of waters of some salty snacks (Jenna recommends Pringles cause she’s kind of obsessed) the hike back up the trail will be twice as long as the trek downhill. There’s also very little shade on the trail and it will be mostly from canyon walls dependent on time of day.
You need to be physically and mentally ready for the beginning of this trail as it doesn’t mess around. It starts off with 9 switchbacks with steep slopes smothered in mule dung.. yes, mule dung, because the trail didn’t start off tough enough that I now need to parkour my way down a hill and around mule feces. The reasons behind the dung is that there are mules that take this trail as well, so on your descent, be weary of uphill hikers and the offspring of a jack and a mare.
Following the 9 switchbacks, you’ll start to make your way to Ooh Aah point; 760 feet below the trailhead, and just under a mile away. Ooh Aah point is the first pit stop along the South Kaibab Trail offering fantastic views into the inner canyon. This is a fantastic place to stop if you just want a short hike, which most people tend to do. From this point, the crowds will start to dwindle out and shade will be scarce.
After descending a little way further, you’ll reach a huge, exposed ridgeline which is the stretch which leads to Cedar Ridge. A few recommendations I would make if you are hiking from Ooh Aah Point, or the South Kaibab Trail in general, would be to equip yourself with a bandanna or face mask of some sort as the wind tends to pick up occasionally without warning which causes sand to kick up and you don’t want that hitting you in the face or ending up in your mouth.
Cedar ridge is about 1.5 miles (2.41 kms) from the rim and is a comfortable little spot to stop. You’ll find the first washroom on the trail here as well. We turned around from this point to head back up to the rim as we wanted to make it up in time to catch the sunset, as we knew the hike back up would take twice as long as the trek downhill.
FRIENDLY SQUIRRELS
Cedar Ridge, along the South Kaibab Trail, is one of the more popular spots for people to stop along their hike down. Many people say it’s because it’s the halfway point of the trail, because it’s a great spot to pull the lunch you’ve been dying to eat out, or because you can finally relieve yourself from all the water you’ve been drinking. But we think there’s another reason why people love the Cedar Ridge point of the trail; and its because of the very overzealous squirrels! While we sat and indulged ourselves in the sandwiches we were desperately craving, some little furry friends decided to make themselves right at home in our personal space. As Jenna was going to take a bite of her sandwich, one little fluff ball scaled her leg not once, not twice, but numerous times in search of a healthy snack. It had to have been one of the funnier things we’ve physically seen an animal do, however, it didn’t end there. The squirrel finally understood and made its way onto a rock which was shaded by some shrubbery, until the Pringles can was pulled out of the travel bag. As Jenna was trying to satisfy the salt she was so desperately craving, there he was again, only this time the squirrel did something we never thought we’d see. He popped up on his hind legs, the same way a cat does when it stretches to grab food out of your hand and proceeded to bat his hands together like some toy monkey clapping cymbals. I swear you couldn’t make this stuff up. It was adorable, and definitely made Jenna’s day as there is nobody you’ve probably ever run into that loves (and photographs) squirrels as much as she does.
WATCHING THE SUNSET
The hike up the Trail was as grueling as you can imagine. With the sun at its peak in the sky, we took several pitstops along the trek up, and as advertised, made it up in double the time it took us to trek down.
Once at the rim, we b-lined to the washrooms at the Visitor Center as we needed to freshen up to finally feel human again and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Visitor Center Deli before setting up for a Grand Canyon sunset.
There are a ton of spots to catch the Sunset at the Grand Canyon, however, we wanted to see something truly mesmerizing as we knew it was our last little hoorah in the Canyon for this trip to AZ. We walked back towards the area where we started the day (Mather Point) and perched ourselves up on a rock just off the paved walking road. To the see the change in color and hues on the exposed ridgelines, we wanted the sun to set behind us, so we faced the Canyon westward.
We had some time to kill before the sunset as we had arrived at our potential gazing destination a couple hours early. There are a ton of people at the Canyon, and we desperately wanted to be at the edge of the rim to watch the sunset. So, after setting up shop, the only logical thing to do after a day hiking in the blistering Arizona heat was to take a nap.
After letting me (Anthony) get some much-needed beauty sleep, Jenna decided she was no longer satisfied with the place we decided to set up shop at and spotted a nearby, much more dangerous spot to watch the sunset from. We made our way downward along an exposed ridgeline which led to a bedrock platform that was off the paved road and perched out maybe 20 meters into the canyon. We were completely alone as other people who attempted to make their way to this rocky platform were either too afraid to make the trail, or simply couldn’t find a way down to it. We didn’t complain though as we got to watch a beautiful sunset together, and alone, and thus ended our 1 day trip to the Grandest of Canyons.
PIN IT FOR LATER!