So... What next?

14/09/2009

The Grand Canyon is not called "Grand" just for the hell of it. If you think it's big, you're not thinking big enough!





From the moment we started figuring out where to go and which road to take, we realised that it's not just a 2 hours ride all around it. Not by a long shot. Apparently, one can visit either the north rim or the south rim and the distance between the two is about 450 kilometers. So to go around it, you're looking at almost 1000 kilometers. So make sure you don't forget your bag before setting off.



Once we got there, we really could not believe our eyes! The endless canyon-like (surprised?) landscape extended as far as our eyes could see. Color and shadow variations to our heart's content and breathtaking views wherever we looked.



We drove around a bit, inside the Grand Canyon park and decided to spend the night parked at the Grandview trail point.

We set the alarm clock for well early the following morning. Had to catch the sunrise to start with and boy, was that worth it.



It reminded me a bit of the sunrise at Machu Picchu in Peru. Watching the rocky surfaces of the canyon getting gently caressed by the first rays of light, taking a new form every moment, reflecting more and more light towards everything around them. It was a very peaceful and soothing sight.

As soon as we enjoyed that as much as we could, we got our stuff together and began the trail downwards.


So choose your breakfast wisely.

After a bit more than a couple of hours, we had reached the Horseshoe Mesa, which offered yet another spectacular view of the canyon, right from its heart.


My face seems to have adapted to the colour of the stones.



The way down was easy and we got kinda cocky. Couldn't say the same thing for the walk back up though. Daaaaaaaamn, that was tougher than I thought. Once again, it reminded me of Machu Picchu and the 13000 steps around Huayna Picchu. Ok, so this one was not THAT hard, but I still ended up huffin and puffin and lying flat on the ground as soon as we arrived at the top. My reaction when finishing the trek down and up kinda scared and deterred people from doing it themselves. :)

The trek took us a good few hours and by the time we got back, we needed the rest, so we decided to spend another night in the park. Nothing wrong with watching yet another spectacular sundown and cooking pasta on the rim of the grand canyon really.



The next day N. was gonna make his way towards Colorado, so I left him somewhere that he could hitch hike it out and I headed back south. I drove down a beautiful country road, through thick forrests and "little house on the prairie"-style farm houses. I made a quick stop in Sedona too, a cute little town (although way too touristy) amongst the red rocks



and finally arrived in Phoenix, to visit my friend M.

M. (not my friend. Me. :p )