Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA
A long timer on our list, Grand Canyon National park speaks for itself. The small little creatures like us are mostly in a shock or in awe looking at its vastness and beauty. Its name does justification to its size and depth.
We entered the park from the southern entrance. It was cold windy December day with sun trying to warm it up. Our first stop was the visitor center where we got the map and decided to drive to the Hermit’s Nest point in our own car. Shuttle service was also available. Hermit Nest point is 8 miles drive into the park with multiple stops with several overlooks. Our first stop was at Grand Canyon Village. We walked around the rim and saw these exposed colorful layers on these deep mountains and rocks. There is information along this small trail about the canyons and their formation millions of years ago. We walked along the trail clicking pictures and sucking the beauty all around us. It was too cold and we had to go back to the car to add another extra layer to tackle it. We took a tea break inside the gift shop and information center while watching the kids play with these informational installations on both floors and walls.
Our next overlook points were trailview, maricopa and powell point overlooks. We spent approx 15 mins at each point enjoying the grandeur with our small eyes and with the help of binoculars. Other than just acknowledging the vastness again and again with each other we spent most of the time staring at these cliffs and rocks individually. Sun was creating these unique yet deceptive shadows of clouds on these canyons. We also saw the frozen Colorado river down in the canyons. Best overlook points with best views were next two stops at Hopi and Mohave overlooks. We drove to all points including Monument creek vista and Pima Point before reaching the end at Hermit’s nest. Along all stops there are small areas to park and stop and we were lucky as it was not so busy day.
At Hermit points we walked around and saw different vegetation and enjoyed the canyon views. We also encountered the Elk crossing the road and we followed her into the trees where we met her other family members. We clicked pictures, grabbed the hot cocoa at the shop and drove back out through the South entrance onto our night stay destination at Flagstaff.
Grand Canyon is no doubt the second best National park we have visited after Yellowstone, but its vastness will shock you and make you feel very small.
Recommendations: Make sure to carry extra jacket if traveling in winter. Carry selfie stick, extra water and some snacks and wear comfortable shoes. Be careful at the edges in the park.
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