Gonzo Blog

Grand Canyon (S.Rim) / Monumental Vly.

07.13.08 Posted in G. Canyon (S. Rim), Travel by A. Ghodasara

After spending three nights in vegas, we left early in the afternoon to visit Grand Canyon (South Rim) and Monumental Valley. The valley is a must see if you are driving on your own to GC.

When driving from vegas, one has to pass through the Hoover Dam. Usually people would stop by but we decided otherwise. The Hoover Dam has great history, how it was build, engineering feet etc ….but we did not find it impressive from a sightseeing / quick look point of view. It’s not grand or mighty in size, so we did not bother stoping by for just sigthseeing. However, we intend to take the guided tour which I have heard if very informative and inspiring.

We reached Grand Canyon (South Rim) in the night. As we were approaching GC, the weather started to turn cold. We even encoutered some snow on our way. We had booked a lodge inside the Grand Canyon National Park (Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins) for $74.72

Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
Tel: 928-638-2631
www.grandcanyonlodges.com

There is only one company that operates cabins, lodges, etc .. inside the National Park. We thought by staying at the lodge we would be closer to all the sightseeing points within the national park. However, we then realized that one can also stay at the Holidy Inn, and other motels just outside the gate of the Nationla Park and be closer to all the sight seeing points. The lodge that we stayed at was somewhat run down and after check-in to the room we had to spend few hours for them to come and fix the heater of our room. Note: Our dislike for the lodge does not mean that all the other facilities (i.e other lodges, cabins, hostels, ranch, etc …) are bad. Our comment is only limited to the Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins.

The next day morning, we woke up early and drove around to see the sun rise in the GC. Make sure that you find out from the park rangers or front-office staff the days sun rise time the earlier night and start driving a little before the sun rise It was very cold out there but definately worth it. The sun-rise and sun-set is the best time to see the canyons. It’s worth bending your plans to ensure that you see the canyons during sun rise or sun set.

There are various points/routes one can take to view the sun-rise. A complmentary map is also avaialble when you enter the park or from the front desk. We took the Hermits Rest Road route.On our way, we stopped by all the sight-seeing points to experience the scenic beauty and take some pics. The thing we missed the most was a coffee shop or coffee vendor on the car trail! Afer few hours, we returned to our rooms for a shower and breakfast. After break-fast, we spent time at the outdoor self serve/style cafe behind the front-desk/souvenier shop of the lodge. The view of GC from there too is breathless. While staying at the lodge, if you wake up and realize it’s late for you to drive and see the sun-rise, you can also walk down to this point and enjoy the sun-rise but then you will be contain yourself to a narrower view of the canyon but still worth it.

By the way, the earlier night we had our dinner at “We Cook Pizza & Pasta‎” which is found right before the entrance to the National Park. We liked their pizza so much that next day before leaving for Monumental Valley, we decided to also have our lunch there. For lunch we tried the italian food which was great. We strongly recommend this place if one ever visits the national park

Also, because of the weather and the lack of time we did not visit spend much time at the canyon. However, we definately want to come back during the summer or fall time to just visit the canyons for hiking, rafting, etc …. There are also great shuttle’s available inside the canyon that covers most of the south rim canyon — hightly recommended if you are there for few days. visit http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/shuttle-buses.htm.

We started driving to Monumental Valley (apprx 3 Hours, near Kayenta, AZ). A one day visit to Monumental Valley is highly recommendable. Especially, during sun-set. We reached an hour or two before sun set. We visited the visitor center from where the view of the valley is spectacular. Starting from the visitor center there is a 17 mile dirt road that one can take either in their own vehicle or take a guided tour in a Jeep and/or Horse ride. I beleive there is also a guided van/shuttle. All this informtion is available outside the visitor center.

We decided to take use the complimentary map and drive ourselves. The road is not concrete but good enough for a full-size car to drive. While on the road, one can pull over for pictures etc … It took us apprx hour and a half to complete the trail. We returned to the visitor center just in time for the sun-set. Note: The visitor center has the best view of the valley. The valley looks spectacular during this time of the day.

Early in the evening we then started our drive to Las Vegas (approximately 6-7 hours). Now that was the only draw back of visiting Monumental Valley from GC but it definately was worth it!

Note:

• Our Grand Canyon pics are here ..
• Our Monumetal Vally pics are here ..
• And then there are misc pics to GC and MV here ..
• We skipped the Hoover Dam completely, next time we intend to spend an entire day taking a guided tour inside the Hover Dam and I heard from a friend of mine that they also have a great dinner cruise on Lake Mead (Hover Dam) and there are other activities on Lake Mead.
• Also, from Vegas there is a one day package to see Grand Canyon. One can drive to Williams (3 Hours) and take a 9:00 AM train to the Great Grand Canyon. Upon reaching GC, one can take a shuttle. The shuttle will return at the train station early in the evening for the train back to vegas.
• From vegas one can also take a package that includes: bus ride from vegas to GC, upon reaching GC a small helicopter will take you to the bottom of the GC, and you can also take a small cruise on the river.