Our Day at the Grand Canyon

We saved our last full day in Williams Arizona for the famous south rim of the Grand Canyon!  We headed out around noon from the campground for the hour drive to the visitor’s center.  Right before we left, a light rain fell but it was soon followed by sunshine.  The drive from Williams to the Grand Canyon is straight and flat.  It felt like we were on the road to the end of the earth! 

Once we arrived at the visitor’s center parking lot, we made our way to the Mather Point lookout.  We have seen the Grand Canyon in movies and in publications a million times, and now we were standing right there looking into this giant hole in the earth.  The moment was surreal! Now that Noah is older, I wanted to make sure we experienced more than just a quick look at this wonder of the world. Just a couple days prior to us visiting the Grand Canyon I saw several amazing pictures on Facebook that my friend had posted from her recent visit.  She had taken the South Kaibab trail to the Ooh-aah viewpoint.  After a quick google search of this trail I decided that this was the one we were going to venture out on.  What I failed to do is look at the best parking options for this particular trail.  Parking at the visitor’s center lot ended up adding at least two miles to our 1.8 mile hike down and back to the Ooh-aah viewpoint.  The better option would have been to park at the lot just east of Yaki Point Road.  Running every 10-15 minutes, the Grand Canyon shuttle is also a great option.  The walk from Mather’s Point to the trailhead was gorgeous but the extra couple of miles were a little more than Noah was expecting. 

Nonetheless, we arrived at the South Kaibab trailhead and made our way down the switchbacks, avoiding the donkey poop to the best of our ability.  As we descended into the canyon, the views became more and more magical.  The late day sun was positioned in such a way that the rays appeared to be dancing on the tips of the distant canyon rim.  Right before we arrived at the famous Ooh-ahh point, we met a lady named Heather and her ten year old son.  They were nomads like us, traveling and experiencing life to the fullest.  Thanks to her, we were able to have several pictures taken of the three of us at one of the most places incredible places in the world!

After a few pictures, we made our way back up the canyon.  Let me tell you, it was a great workout!  Noah told us at least one hundred times that his legs were exhausted!  Thankfully, we were able to take the shuttle back to our truck.  I do not think Noah would have been very happy if we had to hike an additional two miles back to the parking lot.

Alex and I both agree that dedicating at least a few days to exploring the south rim of the Grand Canyon would have been ideal.  There’s always next time😊 On to our next adventure!