Then, we went farther into the park to the Bright Angel Lodge for more views and some hiking trails. Since we only had the afternoon, we hiked on the Rim Trail, which offers great views of the canyon but doesn't descend into it. The Grand Canyon is already on our list of "must return" places because we want to either hike down into it for an overnight camping experience or do a week-long tubing trip down the Colorado River & through the canyon.
The views here are just breathtaking. It is so incredibly vast, and the air was clear enough that we could see all the way across the canyon - 11 miles to the north rim. Pictures just cannot do it justice.
From the canyon, we drove back into the quiet western town of Williams, AZ - "the gateway to the Grand Canyon" that just so happens to have Route 66 as it's main street! We had dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant called the Red Raven.
Up next: sunny California!
I hope that with all this incredible first hand experience of this country's great natural wonders,Tom and the Foursaken Media team will consider creating a game which illustrates the need to protect and preserve these special places. Somehow, this message of protecting the earth's last remaining wonders and wilderness areas, needs to get to the masses.
ReplyDeleteI love these pictures and the updates! I have a picture from the same look out as the one Melissa's in above the solo pictures of you both. The Grand Canyon is by far one of my favorite places! I feel like I'm traveling vicariously through you both! Have fun!!!!
ReplyDeleteDad - I've passed your thoughts on to Tom. I wish there was some magic way to reach the masses - I feel like it needs to come from somewhere like Hollywood or Facebook, sadly... somewhere that the masses can be reached quickly and easily in a way that doesn't require much effort on their parts... I'm afraid most people won't actively seek out issues like this, no matter how important they are. :-/ I must say, though, that I've been pleased with the local preservation efforts in these areas, and I've seen lots of families exposing their kids to national parks, etc., so that's encouraging.
ReplyDeleteCarole - I'm so glad you're enjoying our posts and channeling some memories, too! The Grand Canyon is truly amazing, and we've seen so many gorgeous natural wonders on this trip!