Visiting the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is one of those places that is deemed a ‘must visit’ in your lifetime. When I got the opportunity to road trip from Oregon to Arizona many years back, I went through the Grand Canyon to see what all the hype was about! The canyon is magnificent and vast, it fell short of expectations. While it wasn’t as exciting as I expected, the Grand Canyon is a perfect half-day stop on a larger road trip.

There are some viewing platforms with rails that you can observe the grandness (pun intended) of the canyon. There are many tourists on these and it is a little harder to get a photo. You can also go on some short hikes that are wide enough to not freak you out too much along the cliff on one side. Although my dad still wasn’t a huge fan of these because of his fear of heights – LOL at his face. I found this a fun way to see the canyon and explore a bit of the nature. People were climbing all over rocks and getting so close to the cliff edge it made me nervous! Be careful! People do die at the grand canyon, believe it or not there are not railings anywhere besides the viewing platforms, which I guess surprised me. It really didn’t feel…well safe.

If you are really adventurous, there are small footpaths that loop down the canyon. These trails were tight – looks like they were built for donkey’s walking down. Which to be honest I think I would trust a donkey’s footing better than mine! I just kept having an imagine of tripping and falling right off the cliff edge. So badly so that my legs were shaking on this pathway. This pathway was BUSY too. Soo many tourists walking up and down this narrow pathway with a cliff on one side. I guess not many people have fear of heights…When I passed people, instead of passing on the correct side according to rules of the road, I clutched the side of the canyon and let people pass on the cliff side. My dad wouldn’t even come on this pathway! While my mom was trotting down way ahead of me. I ultimately decided to turn back and let her continue on by herself.

Remember to drink lots of water while you are there and check the weather! I went in August and it was certainly hot this time of year and we had to refill our water bottles several times and take breaks from the heat. We finished off our half-day by eating at a restaurant at the Grand Canyon and buying a touristy shirt, of course!

While, yes, I’m not a huge fan of heights and that affects my perception of the enjoyment of the attraction; I still didn’t find the Grand Canyon to be so incredibly spectacular to go out of your way to see it. I would certainly go if you live in Arizona or can drive through on a larger road trip…but it let me down in that regards. If you are from out of state, I recommend combining the Grand Canyon with Sedona and other sites in the states of Arizona and Utah, and not just purely going to see the Grand Canyon for days on end. A great way to ‘check off’ a world wonder from you bucket-list but also to enjoy your trip to the maximum.

Okay so a lot of “eh” above, but it is truly beautiful! See below!