We spend most of our vacations travelling the world and rarely get a chance to tour our own country. Growing up near Niagara Falls and living near New York City now, I often lose sight of the exciting and awe inspiring sights in the United States. It was a nice change of pace to see what the US has to offer as a tourist destination. While July isn't the best time to visit Arizona, due to the hot temperatures in the low desert and the monsoons in the high mountains, we had an amazing time looking back through millions of years of history.
We situated ourselves in Flagstaff because it was in the center of several attractions we wanted to visit while in Arizona. BF and I drove just over 100 miles to the east and spent one day driving through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. The beauty of the landscape was amplified even more by the fact that it was created by millions of years of the forces of nature acting on the Earth. This national park is also a testament to chemistry in action, you know I loved it.
One major item on our checklist was to hike rim to river in the Grand Canyon. Since all of the signs in the park recommended against hiking down and back in a single day, we were sure to be well prepared. I filled up my camelbak with a gallon of water and a ton of food. BF carried his own water and snacks and we set out on our hike shortly after sunrise.
We chose to take the South Kaibab trail into the canyon, since it was listed as one of the most scenic and less busy trails. As we hiked down the canyon, the temperature rose higher and higher. The comfortable temperatures at the top gave way to 90 degree temps at the mid point. By the time we reached the bottom it was well over 110 ºF. Luckily there was also a shallow stream which I promptly sat in and cooled right off. We refilled our water packs, had lunch and spent a little more time sitting in the stream.
After an hour of recuperating, we were rejuvenated enough to head back out of the canyon. It took us about four hours to hike to the river, including time spent taking pictures, climbing rocky outcrops and snacking. Just as we set out on the trail, a rain storm rolled through. We donned our rain ponchos and started on the switchbacks. The heavy rain only lasted a few minutes, but it managed to drop the temperature by twenty degrees. It made for a much more comfortable climb.
BF and I enjoyed a quiet climb, as the rain drove most of the other hikers off of the trail, and we made our hike in record time. In only three and a half hours we made it from the Colorado River to the top of the canyon. We finished our hike very dirty (the trail is dusty and very red), hungry (the last of the cookies were delicious after that hike) and thirsty (you can fill up your bottle with Grand Canyon spring water!).
If you are traveling to Arizona, you are most likely heading to the Grand Canyon. You should definitely spend some time hiking the trails as you'll get a totally different perspective from inside. If you want to hike rim to river, you can be crazy like us (not recommended!) or you can book a room at the Phantom ranch, spend the night on the river and hike out refreshed in the morning!
