Doug and Kerry Hudson in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

World Trip >> USA >> Utah >> Grand Canyon NP

We drove south into Arizona from our base at the Dixie Hostel in Hurricane, Utah. Our destination was the awesome Grand Canyon.

We're sure that everyone has heard of the Grand Canyon, and our advice is this: If you're ever in this area, make sure you see it. It is so huge that you can't believe it!

We walked out to Bright Angel Point for a spectacular view of the canyon. The far rim was a distant haze ten miles away. Had we wanted to drive there, the distance by road to the far rim would have been 213 miles, or 300km!

From Bright Angel Point we also saw some Californian Condor, an endangered species with a wingspan of 9.5 feet (nearly three metres). They were just soaring on the warm up-currents, just cruising and looking for prey.

We made a start down the Kaibab trail, which is the only trail leading to the Colorado river at the bottom and up the far rim. The whole trail would have taken four days. The intense heat and the steep incline made this very challenging, and we turned back after an hour having hardly scratched the surface. Even Kerry said it was too hot, and as you know, she never says that!

In summary, we were blown away by the staggering scale of the Grand Canyon, and we were very grateful for the opportunity to see this Natural Wonder of the World.

World Trip >> USA >> Utah >> Grand Canyon NP

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006