Grand Canyon National Park

August 10, 2010.
Yesterday, we hung out at the campground. I cleaned my bike up and then took a short ride. We made preparations for our trip today to The Grand Canyon National Park. We had heard that the park is very busy and that there is construction going on. We figured today would be a good day to visit since school had started this week. So I loaded the bikes on the Jeep as we decided we would ride them around the park.

So much for thinking we would beat the crowds. I took almost 20 minutes to get through to the entrance gate. Then we had to search for a parking space at the visitor center. The park was full of what seemed to be mostly foreign visitors. However, we saw license tags from every state in the union to include Hawaii. It was so crowded it reminded me of Disney World.

We walked our bikes to the first viewpoint near the visitor center because of the crowds. Of course the views were spectacular! 

A glimpse over the side. In some points it's a mile down!

We rode our bikes through the park which allowed us much more freedom. There are shuttle buses but they looked jam packed and there was always a crowd waiting to board one. So, the bikes worked out great for us. We seemed to be the only cyclists taking advantage of our own wheels.

We stopped and walked through El Tovar Hotel. 

It's hard to capture the beauty of the Grand Canyon in photos. The distances are so great.

A lady was nice enough to snap this picture of both of us together.

After getting back to our Jeep we loaded the bikes and drove out of the congested area of the park towards Hwy 64 and the "Desert Views" which are just a series of viewpoints along the highway.

Another glimpse over the side.

We spent a good 4-5 hours at The Grand Canyon National Park. The entrance fee was $25. It's worth the visit but be prepared for the crowds. Joyce and I both remember coming to the Grand Canyon many years ago, but we don't remember the crowds of people and the buses, tour groups and traffic. We remember it used to be so peaceful and quiet.

I would suggest riding your bike if you want to avoid some of the crowds, but be aware the terrain is hilly and can be challenging. We rode one hill that was posted with signs warning vehicles of a 7% grade. Coming back the opposite direction I was doing 32 miles an hour down the hill and sporadically touching the brakes to keep from going any faster!

We drove over one hundred miles round trip today.We got home by 5:30 and released Maggie and Rico from their prison inside the rig! We hate to leave them so long. We made dinner and then called it a night, exhausted from our adventure.