There really is no way to describe the Grand Canyon.  Sure, you can look at photographs created by myself or the likes of other well-known artists, but it still doesn’t quite capture the breathtaking view you’re presented with when viewing it in person.  The second part of my Arizona adventure after leaving Sedona included staying in Flagstaff and venturing to the Grand Canyon for two full days.  I was thrilled to have my long time friend from college join me from Denver for the weekend too!

Friday night in Flagstaff was super fun as we walked around the downtown area and explored shops and restaurants.  A local gave us a great recommendation for dinner and we had a cocktail outside in the back alley listening to live music as we waited for our table.  How fun!  The first photos below show the downtown Flagstaff area.  It’s a very fun college town with an artsy sort of feel in the mountains.  Just beautiful.

Saturday morning Kara and I got up and at ’em early enough and made our way up to the Grand Canyon.  The drive is roughly 1 hr 15 min from Flagstaff.  While we would’ve loved to have stayed in the Grand Canyon Village, we simply couldn’t get a room at any of the inns.   The drive up wasn’t too bad and the drive back from the east Desert View entrance was quite scenic.  We took the first day to explore the “red” Hermit Road bus tour and stop at different outlooks and views.  After finishing the bus tour we got back in the car and started driving down toward Desert View, the eastern most entrance point into the National Park.  We made a few stops with one of my favorites being Lipan Point, where we photographed sunset the that night.  The beauty of the sunset was overwhelming, but sunrise on the next morning, Easter, was even more so.  We awoke at 4:00am in order to get to Mather Point just in time for sunrise photography and joining in on the open non-denominational service.  We followed that with brunch at El Tovar, the most historic inn there and then a bit of hiking down into the canyon.  We made our way back toward Desert View and visited the historic Watchtower with amazing views of both the canyon and the desert.

There really are no words to describe the beauty to the Grand Canyon.  If you have an opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it!

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