Without taking away anything from the writers or the artists, it is safe to say that words or for that matter pictures would not do justice to very few places in the world. The nature is the greatest artist of all and man cannot simply compete with them. Any one of the seven natural wonder of the world would definitely fall in this category.
We really grasped this fact when we visited Grand Canyon. You have to see the Grand Canyon yourself to comprehend the full extent of its beauty. No photos or words could truly describe the expanse and grandeur of this natural wonder.
A photo could not show the miles of spread on your either side and the deep chasm below you at the same time.
Any amount of words could not describe how you could feel miniscule by the size of the canyon and at same time sort of lifted by the beauty.
And nothing whatsoever could capture the magnitude of millions of years of extreme forces at work to create the canyon.
To be frank when we had only seen the photos, at one point during our planning, even if just for a moment, it had crossed our minds that if we should skip the Grand Canyon all together. And we were so glad that we didn’t listen to that little voice in our head.
We have selected the Grand Canyon South Rim for our brief sojourn. It was an obvious choice given the majestic views and scenery were our only criterion. We were going to drive in from Antelope canyon and after our stay were going back to Las Vegas for our onwards journey.
We were fortunate to get hold of the last available room in the Grand Canyon Village at Angel’s lodge. And this became possible only after calling the Xanterra reservation as the online booking was full. This lucky break seemed like a good omen for the trip. Before going any further, I do have to say that the stay was exceptional (the food was not) and the location could not have been better.
We started the day at the Mather point near Grand Canyon Village center. This is perfect spot to witness the amazing sun rise over the canyon.
The colors of the sky always foretell the rising sun and more crucially build the anticipation. We waited as the sky turned from blue to red to orange to golden ringing in silently the arrival of sun. We stood in awe as slowly the sun started to peak from the horizon.
When the first light of the rising sun fell on the canyon, it became crystal clear why the sun rise was such a coveted time of the day to view the canyons. As the sun rose from the horizon, the muted colors of the canyon started to make sharp advances to vivid hues. Each curve, crest and trough was highlighted and each seemed to be telling its own tale now. Their beauty was accentuated by the golden sunlight. It felt like the whole landscape had suddenly come alive.
The first views of the Grand Canyon took our breath away. Even though we had spent months planning for the trip and would have seen thousands of photos and read hundreds of blogs. But nothing prepared us for what we saw. It was truly spell binding view and what accentuated the beauty further was how it was constantly seemed to be changing as the day progressed.
The best way to explore the canyons is to trek through the canyon. But we were not prepared for the trek down to the Colorado river both physically and logistically. We did take a brief trip down the Angel trail and came back from the tunnel.
We took the next best alternative to spend our time driving along the gorgeous Desert View Drive and hitting the varied view points along the route. It was the beautiful sunny day. The fall colors were just starting to color the national park and the drive itself was lovely.
We spent our own sweet time at each view point getting drenched in the absolute beauty of the Grand Canyon. And the amazing thing was that the designated viewpoints were located around the south rim such that we saw the Grand Canyon in a new way from each of them. Grand view point, Moran Point, Lipan point and Navajo point all were awesome in their own way allowing us to appreciate the canyon in more ways than imaginable.
We wanted to spend more days here but as always we were pressed for time. We left with a promise to come back again to go for the trek down to Colorado river.
Do you have a story to tell about your Grand Canyon experience? Drop in a comment or send us a mail. We will definitely reply. All the interesting tales will be published in a special feature.
