Our focus was to both experience sunset and sunrise and hike to Plateau Lookout. Wow, what an experience. But first the drive to The Village.
On our journey there we stopped for a short hike to take a look at horseshoe bend, beautiful but hot!!! We also popped in to various viewing points:-
- Dessert view
- Grandview Point
- The village
Our destination for sunset was The Village. Arrived just in time to enjoy the sunset and capture the light. It was cloudy so made for some beautiful photographic moments… Finished the day with sundowners at the El Tovar Hotel before heading to the Grand Hotel where we were staying for two nights. A bit of a strange place but well-equipped rooms and the only decent available accommodation we could find at South Rim. It was close to the Village and can recommend it, convenient.
Up at 5 am on day 2 to watch sunrise, enjoy a coffee at South Rim and then start hiking by 7:30am. We chose to do Bright Angel Trail. The trail starts at South Rim and takes you along countless switch backs into the canyon. The trail elevation is 6,850 feet. Rules – give way to uphill hikers and step to the inside of the trail for mules. 5 minutes in we had to step aside for a mule train, cool to see genuine “cowboys”. First rest stop for us was Indian Garden which was our reward after 5.5 miles of mostly downhill. Time for brunch, had a sandwich, water and a quick rest before doing the 3-mile round trip to Plateau Point Trail. The views of the Colorado River and the canyon were breath taking. Felt like you were standing at the bottom and surrounded by canyon walls and formations, inspired me to return and do the rim to rim hike!!! Once we got back to River Garden rest spot, had the rest of our sandwich and lots of water. Took a slightly longer break here before starting the ascent, straight uphill for 5.5 miles. The views on the way up were majestic and you saw the amphitheater as you hiked up. Must say, the rim was a long way away. We stopped at the 3-mile rest stop for water and a small snack and were off again. We were making very good time and passing hikers, feeling good and focused on reaching the rim until we turned a corner and realized we had about a mile of steep uphill to go. Decided another rest was in order and stopped at a shady spot on the trail for a snack – cheese, salami and crackers. We were the envy of all the other hikers struggling past us looking hungrily at our “fuel”. One hiker took a look and said, “what no wine”??? That was all the energy we needed and we off and up the last mile making the 13-mile hike in 7 hours including stops. Exhausted we headed back to the hotel for a recovery nap and a shower.
Decided to finish our trip with a sunset back at South Rim and a light meal before heading to bed early to recover from a magnificent day at the Grand Canyon. Even saw elk roaming freely at the rim.