I'll get into the specifics of what we did in a bit, but I feel like I need to layer more and more praise on this first. About halfway through the rim trail I started already thinking where The Grand Canyon would then sit on my list of favorite outdoor sights. I don't think it knocks off #1 of Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia - nothing likely ever will - but it might be #2. I literally do not think it is possible to overstate how incredible the views are. They're all largely the same, just incomparably vast expanses of canyon cliffs and red rocks extending in every direction. It never got old though.
Also let's throw some plaudits America's way. This country truly does have some amazing scenery, especially in that half of the country. I've often extolled the beauty of Salt Lake City and Denver, and I remember enough of Alaska when I went in 2004 to know how great that was, but truly The Grand Canyon is something else.
Given the potential for lines and crowds (somewhat overstated in the end), we left "early" for me by 9am, with a 1:15hr drive up to the canyon. Coming into the trip there was some discussion around doing one of the many hikes into (to some small degree) the canyon, but given the elevation was making the Tonto Bridge hike bad enough we gave that up to stay mostly around the Rim, which was great enough anyway.
The whole set-up is still a bit restricted becauase of covid, so the main central place to park ended up being the Grand Canyon Visitor Center (which is closed, though the shop remains open - capitalism!). But that ended up being the perfect place to start as it sits about halfway through the 6-mile stretch of the rim path (it actually extends far beyond that but this six mile stretch is generally what is 'advertised' as the hike). We started out first walking west-ward to the 'Grand Canyon Village' a little collections of restaurants and inns - again mostly closed. Its amazing that this walk could show so many different views of the canyons, all as good or better than the last. The rim path hugs right up to where the cliff drops into the gorge - the best part of this view is the tiny little pokse of the Colorado River, the little engine that could that created this whole sight.
after this walk, which took about two hours, we then went on a drive through the Eastern Path, a stretch of about 25-miles westward from the main area to the "eastern entrance". On this there are a stretch of lookouts and trail-heads that offered again truly just stunning views. The drive itself strayed away from the cliff-face aside from these lookouts, but was still a nice reprieve away from hiking.
After, we did the Eastern half, which goes from out to the South Kaibab Trailhead, again just showing great views. By the end of this, the views were maybe getting slightly repetitive but it remained just so great and incredible through to the end.
After the time in the Grand Canyon we headed to a local bar in Tayusa, the little village next to the Grand Canyon. It wasn't the best, but gave us a little bit of a break before the drive back to Flagstaff. At this point, I entered my 'the vacation's almost over' depression phase, which in a weird way is still welcome. These trips, even if this one was a little longer and more opulent than most, were such a common part of my life that just went away fully for a year plus. Getting it back, especially in such a novel (for me) and interesting part of the world, was so great.
What did help get me out of the depression was our dinner at Tinderbox, which was truly excellent. They had a series of small plates (somewhat bite sizes) and really great sounding entrees. We split both the pork belly (4 small bits of pork) and some cheese + pear + pastry thing, before I got maybe the most soft, tender, beautiful braised beef shoulder. Honestly, these meals are also so welcome. I've spent a year cooking what I think are often restaurant quality meals, but some of the ones on this trip (really all of the main dinners) are truly a level above.
After dinner we headed back to Hops on Birch, same quiet crowd when we arrived around 10:15 but was far more crowded (still not anything near full) when we left around 11:45. Its an interesting crowd, a couple University students, a few nomads and tourists. It was an eclectic collection that again reminded me more of the crowds I woudl find in Canadian local pubs. Museum Club was more of the same, us staying till about 1:30, long enough to get a few games of pool in and listen to some fairly average karaoke. I wasn't ready yet to go to a club or be in a big crowd, but for me these were fine.
