Starting: Holbrook (Petrified Forest), Arizona Destination: Grand Canyon Village, Arizona (For real this time) Travel Day: 4 Total (ish) Time in Car: 36 Hours
Driving Towards Grandness
Three full days of driving, half a day spent at the petrified forest, and it’s no wonder I’m exhausted. I’m not even driving at this point, but I’m tired and possibly burnt. However, none of that mattered once I was confronted with the Grand Canyon.
A girl from the Shelby, North Carolina area is used to mountains, but I don’t imagine mountains when I think of the west. I mean, if you say rocky mountains to me, sadly, my mind automatically forgets what you’re talking about and starts singing Rocky Top (you’ll always be home sweet home—). Whatever. Moving on.
Driving to the Grand Canyon was a wonderful reprieve from all the flat, desert-like lands. We actually began to see trees that were taller than us!
While the drylands of Texas, New Mexico, and bits of Arizona were beautiful, after about 8 hours, it gets a bit average as far as sightseeing goes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely magical if you allow it to wash over you every moment you remember that you are somewhere new. However, we were on a mission to get to the next destination, making it easy to forget to take in the moment.
All that is to say, it was so exciting to finally see something new. Something green. Something with a stark incline.
As we edge closer to our Grand Canyon destination, the sun edged its way to the west horizon. I needed the bathroom. I wanted souvenirs. But we were losing daylight. Stops were a no-go unless we needed gas, but we could make it.
We bought our way into the park and used the GPS to make sense of the roads leading to the sight. Our GPS decided we didn’t need to follow the other patrons. We would go our own way! Which was maybe a minute quicker.
The dog was anxious, probably honing in on our much slower speed. His face continuously found its way to my shoulder, as did one paw. At least once, he got all four paws over the barrier, but with a hefty shove, he was able to get back to own his seat.
It’s Not A Deer, Deary
On our way to the parking lot, I saw a deer that looked almost like a moose. It was massive! Then I remembered all the yellow caution signs of giant deer.
“Do you see the elk?” Abbey asked as she pointed ahead.
I was too embarrassed to say I didn’t realize they were elk. Even now, she doesn’t know I thought they were giant deer. In my defense, they are part of the deer family (thank you, Wikipedia!)
When we parked, Abbey looked around the lot. “Yeah, I’m leaving Polo in the car. I don’t want to fight with him if he wants to get a look at those elk.”
I nodded my head in agreement. While he wouldn’t travel to the canyon with us, she wanted to let him stretch his legs and pee if he needed. Once he was safely back in the car with everything he may need, we started the five-minute trek, or so said the sign, to a part of the Grand Canyon.
On the way there, two elk were on the concrete pathway, casually chilling and eating whatever they could find. Abbey immediately went to take pictures. I figured I’d steal them from her later; right now, I just wanted to see them. They were HUGE! Antlers spread out toward us as if they wanted to touch us or maybe even impel us. Their eyes were large and dark, completely unaware and yet vigilant. People seemed to pass without noticing, not realizing giant animals were hanging out without a care. Those who did see were in awe, much like myself, and wanted pictures, much like Abbey.
As Abbey started her way back, we were separated by the split in the pathway, but we could still easily see one another through the sparse trees. As I walked ahead, I was interrupted by another elk. She walked in front of me, pausing at what I assume she thought was my intrusion. She was close enough that if I took two small steps, I could touch her. But naturally, she quickly made her way to the small forest median.
“Abbey, incoming!!” I called my friend. I saw her prepare her phone for a quick video of the elk as it made her way past Abbey. The elk jumped over the railing and paused to eat within the covering safety of trees.
The Canyon
We moved on to get a little closer to the edge of the earth. Many people passed us as they left; many people were ahead of us as they moved towards the canyon’s rim. Even more people were grouping towards a specific area, and we figured that was where we wanted to go too. Once we got to the railing that kept us from falling down into the canyon, my breath was lost. It’s a wordless moment when you happen upon the depths of the canyon. We moved over to the Mather Point. There were many people, but not so crowded I couldn’t get close to the furthest point into the open mouth. Abbey waited for her moment and then made it to the actual furthest point. I let her go ahead and remained on the side.
I overheard a man tell one of his teenage daughters that the other side was ten miles away and the bottom was one mile deep. It’s hard to imagine it was only ten miles. It seemed so much further. Then the bottom seemed unreal as if I was staring at the actual end of a bottomless pit. I looked down to the bottom of our immediate spot, but then there was another bottom to that shelf. My mind became dizzy, staring at the gradual decline of the canyon, but I couldn’t stop looking. It wasn’t just pleasing; it was addicting. My eyes became blurry as the incredibly epic sight beyond me overtook my senses. I never imagined I’d be the type to cry at the Grand Canyon, but I did. I will take that cliche and hold it close to my memory.
For the first short while, I didn’t take any pictures. I didn’t try to push through people to get the perfect photo for my Instagram. I just wanted to be in that moment. I wanted to stand there forever. I could live there, forever, in that moment.
The distance was so immense it created a haze that filtered the sights. The sun was low in the sky and painted the canyon with bright reds and tans while also causing shadows of blues and burnt oranges. Pathways crawled along the canyon and looked like raindrop trails on a window. I can’t imagine standing at the very bottom and looking up at the wall of rocks, clay, and trees looming above. But I want to see it. One day, I hope I will.
Abbey and I made our way to another viewpoint. We headed away from the sunset, which sounds ridiculous, but time didn’t make sense to me at that point. The sun was here. We were here. And I wanted to see my favorite part of the canyon (to the right of Mather Point) from a different angle and preferably with fewer people in the way. We found a good spot for photos, and then I sat and stared some more.
“Let’s go see if we can get a view with the sunset,” Abbey said. I followed her as we hurried towards the west. It was getting darker and colder, but the canyon still looked the same, albeit slightly more blues than reds.
It soon became apparent we weren’t going to get to the end before the sun was gone. I blame myself for the lack of time to get there. I’m much slower than Abbey (that girl can walk like nobody’s business!), and my foot with a bad arch was starting to cause me to limp. I wish I could’ve gotten her to the edge sooner. But we did find an excellent spot to get a bit of the sunset from where we sat. There wasn’t a railing in this area. We saw people climbing up and down some of the way to get further out into the canyon’s open. It was nerve-racking to watch, but they survived as far as I could tell.
At one point, I turned to look again at the sights away from the sunsetting sky. The wind pressed lightly against me, and I quickly realized my balance was not perfect. “I think I’ll just back up,” I said as I moved closer to stable ground.
Abbey laughed at me and said, “good idea.”
We still wanted souvenirs, so after a quick google search, we found that all the shops nearby were closed other than the Canyon Village Market & Deli, but it was closing in forty minutes. We hurried towards the car. It was about a ten-minute walk (or more), plus driving down to the shop, plus walking around to find what we wanted…forty minutes can quickly end up feeling like five.
Abbey was sweet as she checked in on me while we power walked to the car. I was so tired by this point, and I’m constantly nervous that I’m dragging others down, so it meant a lot to me that she would make sure to see if we needed to slow down. Also, power walking and masks do not work for me. Luckily, we got to the car and found a shop not too far from our site. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea because the store was packed full of people quickly shopping for stuff and food.
I found a pint glass for my mom, decorated with an elk and a Grand Canyon view. I also picked up my fridge magnet souvenir. I paid and then waited for Abbey by the doors. Abbey picked up a wooden trivet that’s decoration was inspired by Grand Canyon rock art.
We climbed back in the car with an excited dog. I sorely regretted not looking for aloe. A good four and half hours in the sun with my skin is a perfect disaster. But I powered through. We got some food, walked the dog again, and then made our final drive towards LA.
