The Grand Canyon is, well…..grand in every sense of the word. Gaping grand. Stunningly grand. Breathtakingly grand. Awe-inspiring grand. Words are pitiful in describing this grandiose phenomenon of nature. And unfortunately we have only 2 days to explore because a snowstorm is coming in.

It’s lucky for us to be here in November and during covid. Few tourists. We camped at the Mather’s Campground, the only open park campground and were lucky to snag a spot even though the campground was full. As luck would have it, we arrived at the check-in post at the same time as another camper who no longer needed the 2nd spot he had reserved. Score! Thank goodness or else we would have had to stay outside the park. With covid only a few campsites are available because of limited staff. So perfect.

The campground is easy walking distance to Mathers Point, the most popular viewpoint because of it’s sweeping, expansive views of the canyon. Day 1 we just soaked in the views taking photos along the rim trail from Mathers Point to Bright Angel lodge.

Day 2 was a hike on the ever popular Bright Angel Trail. From almost every viewpoint along the rim trail you can see the Bright Angel Trail heading to Indian Garden. It beacons.

The signs warn that it takes twice as long to come up as go down and to plan accordingly. With shorter daylight now, we will be able to only go to the 1.5 mile resthouse. The path is one switchback after another through the cliffs of Coconino sandstone. Mules and ascending hikers get the right of way. We give way to both. The total length of the trail is 9.5 miles down to Phantom Ranch with a elevation gain of 4500’. So we are not going far at all. If time and weather had been on our side, it would have been fun to keep going. However, going back up is a trek!!! Thank goodness we aren’t also dealing with the heat. Amazing to see some people with full pack going down to camp because they have to come back up 4500’ with those loads!. If only I had come when I was younger…. And if only I had been able to run the river during my whitewater days in Atlanta… One of my few regrets in life. Still possible though… :)

At least we got in a couple of hikes and got to descend into the canyon a bit during our 2 days. Clearly on Day 3 it was time to go with weather coming in and prediction of 10” of snow. But we’ll be back!