[UncleVanya]

Oh dear that's me on foot then.

Limits are 200 for overnight trips $500+ and some specific day trips and 220lbs for the 1/2 day trips (in general).

I'm also on foot. Lol.

[Mallee Boy]

Oh dear that's me on foot then.

you think they would be able find a couple of bigger mules...surely ??......that's one for you, and one for me !!

[UncleVanya]

you think they would be able find a couple of bigger mules...surely ??......that's one for you, and one for me !!

Two mules and a palanquin between them... LOL.

[Mallee Boy]

Two mules and a palanquin between them... LOL.

Hey....now we're talkin' !!

[Kerrowdown]

that's one for you, and one for me !!

Fair enough... but UncleVanya mentioned earlier he'd need one too.

[Kerrowdown]

Two mules and a palanquin between them...

Hey....now we're talkin' !!

Travelling in style.

[UncleVanya]

Travelling in style.

Or I could make it a goal to lose the weight. Hmmmm... If I did that I'm more likely to hike the trail. My meniscus on my right knee is torn. That is a bit of a worry.

[Kerrowdown]

If I did that I'm more likely to hike the trail. My meniscus on my right knee is torn

That's why we invented helicopters.

[Mallee Boy]

Yep...Uncle V....that thought regularly crosses my mind.

Some more photos.

South Rim. (a lot of these comments are intended for first time international visitors, so apologies to the Americans who may find them a little pedantic.)
The most visited, the most popular. Easily accessed by road from Las Vegas, taking in part of Route 66, you can even travel the original road on a loop through Peach Springs.
I have not visited the Glass walkway at West Rim.
Its about a 4 hour drive, but you will stop at Hoover Dam, you may explore a few of the towns along the way, and if you are like us, travelling light and buying over there, there are plenty of Walmarts enroute to stock up at.

Accommodation is available either outside the park or inside the park, for me, having travelled half way around the world to get here its inside the Park for me every time.
Some of the options are, and comments are based on our experiences only:
Maswik Lodge and Yavapai Lodge. The cheapest of the offerings inside the park. Good, clean, spacious and basic accommodation. Both Lodges are set back from the rim but are serviced very well by the shuttle bus system, which is excellent. Each Lodge has its own cafeteria style dining room with a wide range of food, and plenty of it, on offer. Alcohol available too.

There is also a General store with a diner, where you can eat in or take away and buy drinks. A laundramat is also available.

Thunderbird Lodge smaller rooms fitted out a higher standard, more expensive...BUT...its right near the rim, The El Tovar Hotel which has a grand old dining room, that like the North Rim Lodge Dining room, is something you must do at least once while you are there.

Bright Angel Lodge has a variety of accommodation styles, we have had the pleasure of staying in one of the rim side cabins. If you can get one, grab it. Its rustic, it may or may not have ensuite facilities, but all that is forgotten when you open the shutters and look out. The dining room at the Bright Angel is very good and there is a very nice little lounge bar off to one side that we frequented once....or twice...or maybe it was.....

For more info: Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I will make a few comments on bookings after the photos.





















A word on bookings. Again, based on personal experience. In 2011 we spent 6 nights at Grand Canyon and booked accommodation about 6-8 weeks before we left.
How?
I spent a lot of time on line Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (go to plan your visit > accommodation/lodging)
I booked single nights, very quickly learning that multiple nights do not often come up. On a previous visit I had a long conversation with a very helpful lady from Xanterra who explained that despite being booked out months in advance, they get daily cancellations which are listed online at the opening of business hours. They don't last long.

So, it was up at 2am and searching for availability. Yavapai was the the one that came up most often , so that was where I concentrated my efforts.
The end result after a couple of weeks of this I ended with 5 nights (single bookings, different rooms !!) in Yavapai and one night in Thunderbird.
I then rang Xanterra direct, with my booking references and again got a very helpful lady who was able to roll all the Yavapai bookings into one booking in one room.

Now...that was in 2011 and I note Yavapai is now run by different people, so it may have changed; but the moral of the story is do not be put off by the online booking page being full....remember that cancellations occur daily.

[slowpez]

I have been lucky enough to have gone there three times. The first was a two week white water rafting trip down the Colorado for the entire distance of the canyon. It was a dory trip and the trip of a lifetime. The second time, my husband and I camped on both the south and north rims. We also took a mule ride beneath the rim (never, ever again). Our last trip, we stayed on the south rim in the campground and got around via bus whenever possible.

Except for the pano, these have all been cross posted from the post your photos section.

[Mallee Boy]

Wonderful contribution Susan. Would love to see / hear more about the raft trip and the mule ride.

[gifthorse]

Great idea for a theme and there's some terrific images here! Unfortunately, all my visits have been pre-Pentax, pre-digital so I don't have anything to add. On the too rare occasions I have visited, I liked to take someone who had never been before and watch their face when the canyon first comes into view. The expression on the face of someone as the mind takes it all in is priceless.

[Mallee Boy]

Great idea for a theme and there's some terrific images here! Unfortunately, all my visits have been pre-Pentax, pre-digital so I don't have anything to add. On the too rare occasions I have visited, I liked to take someone who had never been before and watch their face when the canyon first comes into view. The expression on the face of someone as the mind takes it all in is priceless.

Brings to mind the first time my wife saw it. We drove in from the Eastern side and first stop was Desert View Watchtower overlook. The view stays fairly well out of sight until you get reasonably close, and as that happened I asked her to close her eyes and led her through the crowd (& it was crowded), saying....excuse me, pardon me, blind woman wants to see the view.....surprisingly the crowd parted to let us through (with a few puzzled looks),. I was able to get her right up to the rail and said, open your eyes. To this day she struggles to explain her feelings at what she saw , she gasped, she cried, she shook, she was simply overwhelmed....but she says she will never, ever forget it.

Some in the crowd were trying to claim a miracle and I had to set them straight, most people got it.

[SpecialK]

Accommodation is available either outside the park or inside the park...

I stayed in Valle, about 1/2 way between the park and Williams, which is on I-40. The "other" road in Valle leads to Flagstaff.

There is not a whole lot in Valle itself, except....

The Arizona portion of the Planes of Fame (the main part is in Chino CA).


A small car museum.


Bedrock City may still be there.


And a hardware store.

[Mallee Boy]

Very good descriptive shots SpecialK, thanks for joining in.

Of course there is someone whom I'm sure would like his kind noted.


Could it be..?? on holiday perhaps, escaping the Texas heat ? (hope to god these are squirrels or I am in a whole heap of trouble )





Or perhaps a cousin ??