A walk along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

‘Don’t worry Mom, I know all about cannibalism, I saw it on TV’. 

Like Danny in The Shining, it’s all too easy in a world of Ultra HD, Wide Screen and 4K to think we have seen and know all about the world and its wonders because we’ve seen it on our televisions. Thankfully there are still plenty of wonders that need to be seen in the flesh to be believed and experienced in all their fullness. Places that can take our breath away and make us stand in awe in their presence, silent and humbled by our smallness and their greatness. The Grand Canyon is one of those marvellous wonders of the world.

We are stopping in Grand Canyon Camper Village RV park in Tusayan a short distance from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The local general store tells us we are shopping at 6,540ft and we are getting used to the ups and downs of the Wild West which can take you from below sea level to 8,000ft in a matter of hours. The campsite has seen better days but Tusayan itself is pleasant enough with plenty of restaurants, the aforementioned general store and the Grand Canyon visitor centre which has informative displays and an IMAX theatre.

I had contemplated, briefly, doing one of the two trails that head down into the canyon from Grand Canyon Village but 4,500ft of descent to the Colorado River and then 4,500ft back up again to the rim is too much for this holiday so we’ve settled on a walk along the South Rim Trail between the two trail heads of South Kaibab and Bright Angel.

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We catch the shuttle bus to South Kaibab trail head. When we get off the bus, soft silent snowflakes start floating gently down from the sky. It’s April and we are at 7,000ft so this is not unusual but a week ago we were wearing shorts and baking in the deserts of Utah. The snow falls steadily for about five minutes but then stops as abruptly as it started. The sun comes out, melts the snow and it’s just like it never happened.

We set off from the trail head building and as we approach the canyon edge our anticipation rises. A few more feet and we are standing at the rim and a huge chasm has opened up beneath our feet. The horizon has leaped across the yawning gap to become a long flat horizontal dividing line separating land and sky over at the North Rim. Everything has suddenly become vast, airy and breath taking. It takes a while to adjust the senses and absorb the scene in front of us. The North Rim is ten miles away across the gap and the Colorado river flows along the bottom of the canyon four and a half thousand feet below us. The pale blue sky stretches out forever, white cotton clouds floating across its canvas. 

The Canyon is not an empty void but is filled with rock towers, spires and pinnacles, deep cut ravines and gorges. Layered rock bluffs and ridges of various heights and stages of erosion. The same erosion that formed this canyon over millions of years is still happening today. We are walking in geological time.

After staring in awe for a while, trying to take in its sheer scale we finally get our feet moving and head off along the trail. I say trail but it is all fairly civilised in that the path is good, so good that it is also an accessible trail for wheelchair users. You are also never far from the road and the sound of vehicles. But it’s not the ruggedness or remoteness of the trail that brings you here, it’s the views to be had across the grandest canyon of them all. And those views just keep coming with every turn taken and metre walked.

We pass by Pipe Creek Vista the line of Pipe Creek seen disappearing into a great ravine on its way to meet the Colorado river on the valley floor.

After a while we see what looks like a colony of ants gathered on the canyon edge. I look at the map and realise its people at Mather Point. Mather Point is one of the closest viewpoints to Grand Canyon Village and so is one of the most popular ones for people… how can I put this politely, who don’t like to wander too far from their cars. We reach it ourselves a short while later and it has a good promontory viewpoint with superb views over the canyon.

Not far from Mather Point is Yavapai Point which has a small museum and viewing area. Here the Colorado river and the suspension bridge crossing it can just be seen way down on the valley floor. A small dash of blue among the towering red limestone cliffs and green brush covered landscape.

From Yavapai Point the trail continues around, hugging the rim of the canyon and eventually reaches Grand Canyon Village with its restaurants, accommodation and railway station. After visiting Bright Angel Trail head Mrs E and I grab a coffee and relax for a while in the slightly surreal setting of a village perched on the edge of a canyon.

As the sun starts to go down we catch the shuttle bus to Mohave Point to watch the sun set. Shadows lengthen along the canyon as the sun goes down turning the limestone cliffs and towers golden in the vanishing light.

We watch the sun slowly vanish over the distant horizon and as if in protest the sky lights up, first yellow, then orange and finally fiery red in the afterglow which then slowly fades into darkness. Another day has come to an end in the Grandest Canyon of them all.

For a route map of this walk including geolocated pictures click on ”Learn more’ below.  Note: you won’t see the map if reading in WordPress reader but click on the little world at the top of the page to view it on the browser.