If you ever wanted to get a better perspective on the world on and how small you are in the grand scheme of things then try standing on a 7,000 foot peak overlooking the orange and yellow rock cliffs at the Grand Canyon. With an absolutely breathtaking view we stood at sunset and overlooked one of the seven natural wonders of the world and it’s no wonder. While it’s not the deepest canyon, its extreme vastness allows one to look out some forty three miles over the Colorado Plateau, where the canyon resides. We hiked to Ooo Aah point which is a very small part of the ever-so-popular Bright Angel Trail. The Park and its Rangers take hiking and preparedness very seriously (and they should) as each year dozens of people are injured by heat exhaustion or even killed. Hungry after the hike we decided to go to the cafeteria which had the most delicious vegetarian chili in a bread bowl! Yay for National Parks offering veggie options. Later on we drove the length of the park to an old lookout at desert viewpoint which offers an unparalleled view of the Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is part of the Grand Staircase also including more northern national park areas: Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park – each known for their individual landscapes. And while the park allows people to get a good glimpse of the richness of the American landscape, we felt that much more was to be seen in it’s more northern “sister parks”. Which you will get to see in our Utah post!

Anyway, after staying at the South Rim we headed to Jacob Lake, a small town more towards the Northern Rim of the canyon…where we had our COLDEST night on the trip so far at 27 degrees. I must admit that this was not a fun night for me as I wasn’t prepared for temperatures that cool and in attempt to keep myself warm I continually woke Jack and myself up. It was certainly a lesson to be learned…and that is to be prepared for any type of weather.

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