From San Diego Zoo we got back on the road, headed for The Grand Canyon. To the South Rim to be specific. The drive involved a little bit of a stint on Route 66. We stayed overnight in a small town called Yuma, in Arizona to break up the long haul and by 2pm the next day we had arrived at the main Visitors site of the Canyon – a spectacular view.

The Grand Canyon National Park is yet another NP in America that caters so well to tourists. Information centres provide free maps of the entire region, there are camping sites and picnic sites scattered around, restaurants and cafes (if you need them) and here particularly were some fabulous walking tracks that can definitely fill up a day.

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon and walking path. Awesome hole...

We were based in the South Rim on the Canyon. In a previous trip to the States, we had taken a bus ride to the West Rim from Las Vegas. This tour is good if you only have a short amount of time and want to get an idea of the sheer size of the Canyon. However it is also a really touristy place. You pay to see a view and you pay to take a photograph on the Skywalk. There is also very little time to walk around.When we arrived at the South Rim, while covered in tourists, the only way to get a real appreciation for this amazing place was to take some time and explore as much of it as possible.

The South Rim and the North Rim are just 10 miles apart as a raven flies, but 215 miles (356km) by road. Many people do take a pack and make the long hike from the South to the North but unfortunately we just didn’t have that much time.

We spent 2 full days here walking around but our second day was definitely the most challenging one. We set out at 8.30am on a hike to the Indian Garden. This walk was stated as taking approximately 6-8 hours and was not for the faint hearted. The total distance of going right down to the garden and back up to the top was 14.8km with an elevation of 1158m. While this information is not that interesting for you to read, its just for us to remember as the walk down was fine – we did it extremely quickly but turning around and making the hike back up to the top was tough work particularly as by now the sun was scorching and beating down on our backs.

Making it back to the top although red faced and exhausted was a bloody good feeling.

Liss having finished her walk down the Grand Canyon

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