Busy day today, starting with getting up to watch the sunrise at Bryce Point in Bryce Canyon. That was an adventure in and of itself, especially for a late-night guy like me. But we got there, about 10 minutes before the sun came up. The place was crowded, to say the least:
But it turned out to be more than worth it. The sunrise was great, and the lighting on the canyon was amazing:
So we stuck around for a while, taking pictures there and at the other points that we had not yet seen (Sunrise Point and Sunset Point). Again, great lighting which helped my picture taking:
But we had to head out eventually, so by 8:30am we were on the road to Arizona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I already know that the US seems to kick our butt as far as highways go, but US-89A (alternate) was a great drive, right alongside many amazing views of mountains and canyons. Made the 250+ miles pass by quite quickly, and we got to the Hotel in Tusayan, AZ at 1:00 local time (1 hour behind Bryce Canyon time).
Prior to reaching the hotel, however, we had to drive through the Grand Canyon National Park. This was because we entered through the Desert View entrance and the hotel was actually at the Southern entrance. So as we were driving through the park we “forced ourselves” to stop at a viewpoint and at least take a look at what we’d be seeing after we checked into the hotel. All I can say is wow:
The picture doesn’t do justice to the sheer mangnitude of the canyon. For those of you that haven’t been, it’s HUGE. The Grand Canyon National Park is approx. 1.2 million acres in size. Bryce Canyon, by comparison, is approximately 35000 acres in size. The span across the Bryce Canyon Ampitheatre is about 3 miles, while the span across the Grand Canyon is as much as 18 miles across. Big difference, and it shows.
We spent a little bit of time at the viewpoint, then headed to the hotel to rest a bit (we got up way too early after all ;)). We did, however, head back to the canyon for sunset. We chose Mather Point, which is apparently one of the best. It was great, and the lighting really set off the canyon floor:
We’re hoping to visit once more tomorrow, checking out some of the other popular viewpoints before we head out to Vegas.
If you’re wondering “hey, are you going to check out that new Skywalk?”. The answer is an emphatic NO. There are many reasons for this. First off, it is not in the Grand Canyon National Park. It is in Grand Canyon West. This is quite a distance from the Grand Canyon everyone knows, which makes things a bit more complicated. Add to this the fact that the last 14 miles of the only road into Grand Canyon West is a bumpy 1 1/2 lane dirt road and it’s getting less attractive. Add even more reasons? OK, it costs $50 just to enter the reservation that has built the Skywalk. It then costs $25 just for the pleasure of walking out onto the Skywalk – a walk that requires you store all of your personal possessions (camera, etc.) in a locker before going out. No pictures, no video, nothing. Their reason: you might drop your camera and damage the glass. Right.
Now you could opt for a “package” from the reservation, which includes a bunch of activities (horse-drawn wagon ride, traditional native dances and presentations, etc.). The beauty of this package is that it includes access to the reservation. But wait, there’s more. It does NOT include the cost of the Skywalk, which is that same $25 again. And the “basic” (i.e. cheapest) package is approximately $85 per person.
Anyhow, wow, and no chance of even getting anywhere near that Skywalk. I hear Vegas has a bunch of stuff like that and most are cheap if not free ;).
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