In a word, the Grand Canyon was magical. I haven't been since I was a teenager and I am not sure I have ever really experienced it the way we did this time. From my child/teenage hood, I remember stopping at lookout and I remember hiking Havasupai, but that was the extent of it. We had a lot of different experiences this time. First of all, I don't think I have ever visited with snow on the ground. Now, I may have when I was too young to remember, but this is that first time that I can recall. This was a bit of a double edged sword. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but also made it a bit more challenging to navigate. I think I was the only one who didn't slip and both Merrick and Carrigan fell twice.
Overall, this trip to the canyon was much more interactive. After our first few lookouts, we hopped on the canyon bus. We took a ride to the Yavapai Geological Museum where we learned a lot more about the rocks and how the canyon was formed. We then took the bus to the visitor's center where we went to a critter talk and learned more about long-horned sheep and we watched a video all about the canyon. Did you know that the canyon is 10 miles across from rim to rim and almost 300 miles long? Or that this first explorers to find the canyon said it was a wasteland and that no one would ever be interested or would ever want to spend any time there?
After the visitors center, we drove to another lookout and then Merrick, Jeremy, Elsie, and I went on this geological timeline walk. The fascinating thing to me wasn't actually the geology, it was the almost 1 mile walk that went right along the edge of the canyon with spectacular views the entire time.
Like I said, it was a magical day. As we pulled away from the park the kids were all asking when we could go back. I hope the answer is soon.
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