17.04 - Day 93 - Grand Canyon
Wednesday 17th April - Grand Canyon, Arizona (Day 93)
We’ve warned the kids that the next week and a half is going to alternate each day between long drives and exploring / walking / adventures. Which they are in full agreement with the night before, but come the morning are sloth-like slow - that is until Kate says the first one ready gets first choice of sweets on the walk. Then they are really in a race after breakfast of Cornflakes and Honey Nut Loops.
Some of the time (most of the time ((99% of the time - inserted by Kate)) I try to save money - see the last sentence about breakfast, but here we’re glad to have paid to stay in the Grand Canyon proper rather than a distant town because we’re at the rim in three minutes of walking after exiting our lodge at Maswik.
From this central spot there are a few shuttle buses through the park - with sightseeing roads closed to private vehicles - and we hop on the Hermits Rest bus, running west along the rim for 7 miles, hop on, hop off, with 9 stops. We spend all morning till early afternoon either walking along the rim and jumping a stop on the bus.
The views continue to amaze, constantly shifting or unearthing new sights around each headland. That said, all our photos seem to look remarkably similar. The main lookouts have a railing but all the walks which are up against or close to the edge offer no protection. And there’s no safety ledge four metres lower. Seb is the biggest concern, struggling to rein in his predisposition for running or jumping despite our protestations.
This whole area was developed in the early 1900’s and it's nice to see the original buildings both in the main centre and also by the time we reach Hermits Rest; a stone building with an inevitable gift shop and hole in the wall cafe where Sienna and Seb happily enjoy a hot chocolate for their endeavours.
On the walk back to the penultimate stop we sit and eat our lunch (homemade of course) all of this a few feet from the edge, the Colorado River now visible. At 2,000 metres altitude the crisp warmth is deceptive when it comes to sunburn so it's sunscreen and hats all day.
Whilst Kate and the kids catch the bus back to the centre and Maswik Lodge, I walk one more section of the rim between Mohave Points and Hopi Point. More incredible views but also the section most consistently right on the edge so glad not to have Sienna and Seb with me (Kate: I’ll give or take). Some of the positions a few visitors get themselves into for the sake of a photo are a little stomach churning, so apologies if our photos are not as good as others you’ve seen.
Once the kids have got through a few episodes of Bluey and with the rucksack restocked with fruit and snacks and water, we head back to Verkamp’s Visitor Centre where we’d popped in on our arrival, so Sienna and Seb could hand in their completed Junior Ranger booklets and after reciting the pledge, earn themselves another wooden badge.
With a spring in their step we tackle the 1.4 mile long Trail of Time along the rim to the east where every metre there is a small disc embedded in the ground, representing a million years, starting at 2 billion years ago. There are numerous boards to explain the creation of this area and also large chunks of the various types of stone in the canyon aligning to when they were formed. The numerical story is enough to maintain the kids energy / distract them from being tired.
Another shuttle bus route brings us back to the village where we get dinner at a steakhouse restaurant (though ending up with a salmon salad and tofu and quinoa salad - both 50% larger than what we need, whilst the kids stick in the comfort zone of burger and hotdog). After all the excitement of a great day we settle back into Phase 10 cards in the room, whilst the car charges nearby at one of the free (but slow) public chargers.