Help For Grand Canyon

2gypsies wrote:
We've been to the canyon many times and love the North Rim for peacefulness, but for a first-time visitor I would suggest the South Rim, rather than North Rim. Stay inside the park at Trailer Village - full hookups - and the free shuttle stops right outside the campground entrance. You can ride all day getting on & off whenever you want. The Rim Trail is excellent for easy walking using the shuttle. To get a full canyon experience, hike down the Bright Angel Trail at least for a short distance. It's an awesome feel to get below the rim but remember that hiking up is much, much harder! Have a great trip!!

We didn't do the hiking, but +1 on the rest. We were there in July and it wasn't unbearable. Trailer Village isn't so bad as it's made out to be. If you're spending your time as you should, ie, seeing the canyon, you will leave shortly after daybreak and get back after dark. Those who have gone there and only seen "a big hole in the ground" and left the next day, I fear have missed the point.

Be the tourist. Listen to the ranger presentations, visit the displays, have lunch at El Tovar. Most most of all, think about the time and power it took to create that place. Mankind's entire existance is but a pin prick on the timeline of how the Grand Canyon got there. Don't blow by the salient point of what you're looking at. Take pictures at dusk, and early morning. Marvel at it's micro climate, where the sun can be out on your left, but a thunderstorm and rainbow is on your right. It's a magical place! Where you park your camper is a matter of convenience.

My reaction to the sheer magnitude of my first approach to the rim was somewhat surprising to me. I'm not one easily given to emotion, but it gave me chills and my eyes welled with tears. Pictures don't do justice to God's majesty. I wasn't expecting it to hit me like that, and I'll never forget it.