Grand Canyon National Park
If you only have a few minutes to know our thoughts about this trip..
Worth visiting to be amazed at a geological wonder. Ooh Aah for sure the first time you set eyes on it.
We stayed for 3 days, but this is not necessary. It could be done in a shorter timeframe, even within a day if planned well and no plans to do long or multiple strenuous hikes.
Keep an eye on the weather, it gets windy, cold, hot and everything in between when we visited. Stay hydrated.
Another trip that was humbling and reinforced the realization of the vastness of this home we call earth, and how little we really know about it.
Our Journal on this trip..
We decided to drive to the Grand Canyon National Park from San Francisco one fine day in the month of May, 2022. Since we both love to travel and explore when time, life and health allows for it, National Parks are usually our first choice as it is possible to do them impromptu and have a decent outing out of it.
This particular trip was not planned well in advance but fortunately we were able to secure reservations at the El Tovar hotel inside the park for a couple of nights and another at The Grand Hotel in Tusayan. Luckily, I was able to secure last minute reservations for the Canyon Vista mule rides as well. Reason for mentioning this as lucky is that we mostly hear they are sold out and reservations have to be made well in advance. However, repeated checking of the websites and being flexible in your travel dates might get you those bookings at times.
We also made reservations to do the Original Grand Canyon Jeep tours on the first evening of our arrival at the Park. One of the things we have learnt over our traveling trips is to do a guided tour the first day whenever possible. This is in addition to the pre-trip research that you do online. There are a few benefits that have proved valuable to us which justify the costs-
Gives a high level overview, and if you are lucky and get a really good guide, an excellent orientation of the park/ location, its history and possible spots to explore which only the locals know about.
Flora / Fauna/ Geology/ Wildlife description (if you are interested in that, Divya is.. and I kind of have come to appreciate it as well), some ooh-ah facts, and must do / see things.
Food & Rest room locations that will help us when we are out on our own
For example - We learnt about Shoshone point from our guide during the jeep tour. and this was the highlight of the trip for Divya. We pretty much had the whole canyon to ourselves. Similarly we learnt about the Beartooth pass highway in Montana during our Yellowstone trip and that drive is so far one of the best drives we have done.
Alternatively, we visit the Visitor Center, spend some time there, get familiar with the documentation on the place and talk to the Rangers if they are free and available to chat. This option works if Divya does the work, as in, delve into the details (I’m lazy, so I just roam around ignorance in tow, or prefer the guides whenever that works out). We have learnt that to truly appreciate the places we visit, it pays to get familiar with the details around what makes that particular place on earth unique. While I might be lazy, I have a spouse who tries to get me off my ass and make me notice… well, she tries, not sure if it is successful always ;)
So, the distance from San Francisco to Grand Canyon NP is around 800 miles (about 12 hours). We decided to split the driving distance by staying overnight in Bakersfield, Ca. Started early the next morning and drove to Grand Hotel in Tusayan. The Grand Hotel is centrally located in the Tusayan village with walking distance to many restaurants, familiar and otherwise names. The village has gas stations and an IMAX theater as well. The Jeep tours usually picks up their guests from the Grand Hotel or a McDonalds joint, which is at a walking distance from the Grand Hotel.
We tried one of the popular Mexican restaurants recommended on most travel review websites and local recommendations for lunch. Unfortunately our food experience wasn’t that good in terms of taste. Probably it was an off day for them? Hopefully others will have a better experience that reviews seem to suggest.
The Grand hotel has quite a few EV chargers and the room was clean and well appointed. They had no room service while we were visiting, with boxed breakfast being served in the morning, while dinner could be had in-person in the restaurant. We did try their dinner at the restaurant and it was a satisfactory meal, given our failed lunch had left us quite hungry. Totally recommend staying at the Grand Hotel if you are planning to visit the park. There’s also a free park shuttle from Tusayan village to Park and this is one of the few parks that we had visited where it did not take hours to reach the park entrance from a nearby town. Totally comfortable to visit the park and be back and not waste too much time in the process.
One of the things that amazed us both was that the Grand Canyon National Park is lush with vegetation. The picture we had in our mind of Arizona being hot and dry made us do a double take when we entered the park. There is a lot of green! We learnt that some of these trees have learnt to survive without much water.
The Jeep tour in the evening was informative and we learnt a lot about the park history, flora / fauna, vegetation, good sunrise / sunset spots. Definitely recommend if you have the time and inclination. Below are some notes from the trip -
Some of the trees we noticed - Pinyon Pine ( the ones that grow pine nuts), Juniper ( growing juniper berries that are used in Gin making), Ponderosa pine ( tall trees with thick trunks) and Gambel Oak.
Saw few wild horses and learnt they were being re-introduced into the wild and that it was a successful effort.
Learnt about Shoshone point - about a mile east of Yaki point on the Desert View drive that has really good views of the canyon minus the crowds.
Learnt about the most dangerous animal in park - not what would come to mind, but they are squirrels! Called Abert’s Squirrels, these little tree squirrels are known to bite people at times, especially if you are not being responsible about your food and not respectful towards a wild animal and its habitat. There’s another species, the Kaibab squirrel, that’s seen on the North rim - it’s been said that the squirrel species got split when the canyon was formed. Found that interesting.
Saw the sunset as part of the end of the tour and it was beautiful.
Wild Horses at the Grand Canyon National Park
Next morning we vacated the Grand Hotel and drove into the Park after picking up a few essentials from Tusayan Grocery Store. The store carries a decent collection of items to purchase and as you can expect in a National Park and other tourist areas, the prices are bit expensive. There’s a Starbucks next to grocery store as well for your coffee.
Our stay at the El Tovar hotel was very good and had all the necessary amenities you need. Since none of the rooms available at our check-in had views we opted for the room in the lowest floor since there’s no elevator and carrying luggage/ cooler would have been a pain. Parking can be challenging during check-in since there’s no designated hotel parking for guests. We parked far off during check-in and much later in the evening, parked closer to the hotel. While we did not have any dinner reservations at the el tovar restaurant, a strategy that worked for us was to skip lunch and have an early dinner. They accept walk-ins and if you are early enough you will be able to dine in. It might not work for everyone, but we are usually fine with a good breakfast, dinner in a day; with fruits or trail mix for the in between hunger pangs. If your party has more than 4 persons, it might be better to even check with the restaurant staff at the beginning to see whether they can accommodate larger groups rather than waiting in line and then finding out that they might not be able to seat you. Just near the entrance to the restaurant is a display window that shows the menu that was served 50+ years ago along with the prices. The food was excellent which was one of the reasons we visited all 3 nights of our stay; there are other options nearby which you could explore, but we suggest you check for reservations first. Also try the Desert Tea available to buy in the hotel gift shop, it is fruity and very refreshing on a hot day.
A list of activities and points worth noting on our trip-
Bright Angel Trail
Began the hike early morning from El Tovar hotel; the trail head starts next to Kolb Studio.
Walked till the 1.5 mile rest house and back. There is a clean restroom and potable water at the 1.5 mile marker.
Most hikes in Grand Canyon start with the descent first and then ascents on the way up. So plan accordingly for the hike based upon the fitness level since climbing back up is quite challenging.
We saw a party of mules and their riders making their trip to Phantom Ranch.
Trails are well marked and you will see hikers both walking down to the Colorado river and others coming back to the rim from their overnight trips at the bottom of the canyon.
South Kaibab Trail
We did the Ooh-Aah point (1.8 mile round trip) mid day and while the views were pretty good, it was not an easy hike. Super strong gusts of wind and dust with heat was not the best combination, but we survived.
Trails are well marked and you will have enough company as this is a very popular trail.
Shoshone Point
Trailhead is about mile east of Yaki point on Desert View drive; you will notice a dirt road and some cars parked.
It’s about a 1 mile walk from the parking spot; no markers were available
Excellent views with almost no crowds when we visited. Had the canyon all to ourselves.
At times; weddings take place - we saw people performing the set up for wedding during our hike
Divya saw a Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly there and it was quite a coincidence that she had purchased a postcard of the same. Pretty much made her day.
A restroom is available once you get to the point
Sunsets
There are quite a few spots to view sunsets at the Grand Canyon and I would assume they all offer different viewpoints. We watched the sunset at Hopi Point along the Hermit’s Road route. You have to take the shuttle for this route as private cars are not allowed for the majority of the year.
One can see the Vishnu Temple and Colorado river from the Hopi point
Be prepared for crowds unless you can take an early morning shuttle and see sunrise instead.
Canyon Vista Mule rides
We did the 2-hour Canyon Vistas mule ride within the park provided by Xanterra. The pick up / drop off is close to the Bright Angel lodge. There’s a restroom near the pick up point and portable toilets at the mule riding facility. They give us an orientation about riding the mules; what to do when they chomp on vegetation along the way, help you get on and off, etc., There will usually be a guide at the front and one at the back with us riders in the middle. Guides will take you along the East rim and there will be few stops explaining park history, flora / fauna. We usually make a U-turn at half way point and continue back along the same route back to the barn.
Mules used for Canyon Vista rides are semi-retired; most of them would have completed a lot of Phantom ranch trips. Some early retirement mules can be found as well; for example; we heard about a mule who loved rolling in sand bed (with its rider ^^) at the bottom of Colorado river.
Our mules were named Shadow and Bertha(Divya’s). Got to say that these mules have a personality! There’s a muzzle on their nose/mouth but they still try to eat vegetation whenever they can and scratch them on tree barks to tear or open the muzzle.
Shadow tried to shake me off when I first climbed on top of him. He chomped on the vegetation whenever we stopped but then continues to follow all the other mules once they start riding back. He had a tendency to go close to the mule in front of us and usually walked along the side rather than in line of the other mules.
Bertha was definitely unique - she did as she pleased and gave Divya a hard time. But then again, they were both meant for each other. Not sure I would have been as comfortable as she handling the mule. Bertha took social distancing during the pandemic to heart; always far off from others. The guides try to take our pictures and every mule except Divya’s was lined up. I have no idea whether it was Divya’s effect or Bertha’s effect there ;) I had joked with Divya that she and Bertha shared a similar personality as to doing things on their own terms.
Safety was not an issue as the mules knew what they were doing. It is more on us to remember that they know more about this than we ever will and let them do their thing. Definitely recommend the activity if you have the time.
My Interesting Facts Log
Here goes some facts I found interesting about this area -
The Canyon was formed by the Colorado river 5+ Million years ago.
The early inhabitants were the native people.
In 1880’s miners came in for Gold mining and were unsuccessful in finding gold; the other minerals found in the area were not profitable when compared against the excavation cost, thereby things pivoting to tourism.
Early visitors arrived by stagecoach from the nearby towns and it took them almost 2 days of traveling to reach the South rim.
Until 1901; Grandview was the most popular destination in the park and had the best property was the Grandview hotel.
In 1901, Grand Canyon Railway started taking people from Williams to South Rim Grand Canyon village; the traffic to Grandview hotel dropped since people had to travel further in stage coach from the train station. The hotel was finally torn down in 1929.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson establish Grand Canyon as a National Park
The rock layers at the bottom towards the river bed are the oldest and the rock layers at the top are the youngest. We also noticed that almost all the rock layers were horizontal. There’s a slight downward incline of the rock layers seen from some of the view points along the Desert View drive.
Vishnu Schist is supposedly one of the oldest exposed rocks (mica mineral rock) dating back to almost 1.8 Billion years.
One of the early female architects with the Fred Harvey company, Mary Colter has designed buildings such as the iconic Desert View Watchtower, Phantom Ranch, Hermit’s Rest etc.
Towards East of El Tovar hotel is the Desert View Drive and to the west is Hermit’s Road.
Geologist Clarence Dutton named the prominent rock formations in Grand Canyon taking inspiration from ancient Asian and Middle Eastern temples. We can see Shiva temple, Vishnu temple, Brahma temple, Isis temple, Zoroaster temple.
Vishnu temple is easily viewed from many viewpoints.
The temperature increases and becomes hotter as we walk down from the canyon rim to the Colarado riverbed floor. You would think with a river down there perhaps it might be cooler? at least I thought so.. The canyon rim is around 6500 feet above sea level where as riverbed floor is 2500 feet above sea level, so that explains the reason for the temperature change.
Mules are a cross between a female horse and a male donkey. Hinny is the cross between male horse and female donkey.
Mules are surefooted and can see 360 degree view of their foot placement, can go longer without water. Hence preferred over horses for canyon rides.
