From Black Canyon City, Arizona, at about 2000 feet elevation, we went to the Grand Canyon National Park, which is at 7000 feet elevation. The drive was a 3 hour uphill climb. The area is at a high elevation because of the uplifting of the Colorado Plateau. Approximately 5 million years ago the entire Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau were uplifted 4,000 to 6,000 feet.
South Rim of the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon was carved by the Colorado River, which is over a mile below the rim. It’s HUGE, about 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. The Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. It’s amazing to see about 2 billion years of colorful geological history exposed in the walls.
We’ve been to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is at 8000 feet elevation. It’s colder and there are significantly less tourists. The South Rim is extremely over crowded, even at the end of March. It was spring break, so maybe that was one of the reasons for the crowds this time of the year. In addition, there were numerous tour buses and the Grand Canyon Railway brought in a lot too. Mornings were peaceful, but by 11:00 am all the parking lots were full. We took an evening hike and really enjoyed the sunset colors on the Canyon walls. We also saw Elk on that hike. Jake was extremely excited.
I hiked the South Rim to the Colorado River 35 years ago. Parked near the trailhead, slept in a tent next to the car, and hiked in the morning to the Colorado River. I didn’t see anyone else for almost a week. Seems like the entire world is noticeably more populated and it’s significant at the National Parks.
Trailer Village RV Park
It had large pull throughs for vehicles up to 50 feet long. 50 amp service, good water pressure, sewer, and no wifi. We struggled to get into and out of the RV park without hitting tree branches. The Park Service won’t trim trees. It had the most number of rented RV’s we ever saw. There were people throwing football, baseball, bouncing basketball, playing music, riding bicycles, and skateboarding in the streets. Kids were trying to pet the elk. Not the serenity and beauty we were hoping for.
There were plenty of wildlife in the RV park. This javelina was hanging out with a group of elk.
The elk stand on their back legs to reach the higher branches. Too bad they don’t reach 13 feet to help with the tree trimming!
We saw them everyday in the park. They were not shy of people or Jake.
This one had an itch.
Western Bluebird.
It is stunning, breathtaking, definitely worth seeing and a bucket list item, but I doubt we will come back to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. But then, I always wanted to photograph it after a snowfall with blue skies in the background, so maybe November to February! We hiked a good portion of the Rim Trail. Jake loved looking for squirrels so we kept his leash tight. He definitely would have gone over the edge after one, and there are no railings to prevent it.
