Grand Canyon south rim....
- Thread starter sam4freedom
- Start date
The Best online firearms community in Louisiana.
Member Benefits:
Fewer Ads! Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership Discuss anti-gun legislation Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses Discover free outdoor shooting areas View up to date on firearm-related events Share photos & video with other members ...and so much more!
Member Benefits:
highstandard40
Well-Known Member
I've been twice. How much time do you have to spend there? To see the best of everything, take the trail from the main Lodge area and walk to the visitors center and gift shop at the west end. Start early and spend the day. At any time if you decide you have seen enough or get tired, you can catch the shuttle bus back to the lodge. There are some scenic overlooks east of the lodge that you can access by car. It will take a day or two to see it all depending on how fast you pace it. I thought the north rim was awesome also. Less people, more wildlife, and cooler temps because of a higher elevation. Of course if you are really fit you can hike the trail down to the river and on up to the north rim.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
We are planning on spending 4 to 5 days in/around the canyon. We are going to fly into Vegas in the am and spend the day & night there. Thanks for the info. From the sound of it, the North rim is a must. We're going in mid JULY so any cooler temps will be welcome.
We had an unexpected extended stay. We were only planning on a day trip but on the way in our radiator cap blew off and the car overheated. They have (or had at the time) a great little mechanic shop with really nice employees. We ended up spending the night right on the rim and it was amazing to watch the sunset. They we got up early to watch the sunrise and did a little hiking. Well worth the trip!
ABSOLUTELY you must go!! If you have never been there before you are in for an experience that will amaze you forever. Made me feel pretty insignificant as a human and was a somewhat spiritual experience (really hard to describe but I can understand why the Native Americans felt it was a special place) Have been there twice also....once as a child and recently there 2 years ago. Like said above, plan on spending a day there. Everybody should go there once to experience the Grand Canyon. Gave me a new/different perspective on things.
If you get some time to do some reading I put together a ride report back for a trip that Nickatnite and I did out that way back in '06.
http://www.dualsportridersoflouisia...hp?1844-Go-west-young-man&highlight=young+man
Here's an excerpt from the report that involved a small section of the North Rim. If you're spending time around there I strongly suggest making it to the Glen Canyon area in southern Utah and possibly even Monument Valley as well.
The whole morning I had been looking for a place that I might be able to get a good picture of the canyon where the setting sunlight lit up the eastern walls and looking at the map I saw a road that curved off the highway and went right up to the rim almost 20 miles south. Watching the GPS and looking for the road, I passed it up and then knew it wasn't meant for major public use. I turned the truck around and stopped when I got to it on the screen......there it was. I took this picture as I closed the gate behind me.
It was obviously a public road, but not one that too much of the public knows about.....or could travel down. I took pictures mostly in the easy sections, but with washed out gullys, hill climbs, and rock slide crossings, I knew it would be an extremely challenging ride to do if I was on the GS.
Rolling along in 4Lo for 80% of the trail, I was losing time with the setting sun and still wasn't halfway to the canyon. Each turn or hill I came to required a first gear crawl to get over the lip of rock shelves or to keep the truck from bottoming out too much in creek crossings. Right where the trail split, I came to a drop that took me into a major washout.
Heavy rains had washed out the trail and I rode around for 20 minutes trying to find a way up the other side and back to the trail. At one point, the riverbed narrows to only a few feet aross and the bare bushes on each side sounded like nails on a chaulk board as they left me reminders of the excursion in the paint on the right side of the truck. Along the river banks I found an abandoned mine shaft..
Finally, I back tracked and got out to walk and find the trail. I came across it about 150ft north of where I entered the river bed and the only way to get to it was straight up the other side. Thank God it was soft sand, cause with the momentum I hit the side at, if it was rock, I'd still be trying to ride the GS out of there.
Once up the other side, things got a bit smoother until I came to a pretty deep gully. The trail became rocky and very narrow and often I was pointed towards the sky, or almost straight down.
This was the apex of a switchback...
And finally, I reached this. The picture doesn't show it well, but the trail goes up at such a sharp incline that I was scared to do it in the truck. I got out to walk it and feel how bad it was and could only make it up halfway without sliding down. Street tires, by-myself, with a bike in the back.....I was turning around.
I was bummed that there was no other access than these trails for a few hundred miles until I saw a faint two track that led off to the north to intersect another trail.
It disappeared before long, but I was getting close to the northern trail according to GPS.
And then I found it.
It was smooth riding from there on and I could barely see the canyon on the horizon. According to the maps, I was about half a mile away running parallel and I decided to hike the rest.
There's a feeling of awe and almost an adrenalline induced breath that you take when you come upon something bigger than you expect. I was flat out dizzy when I peared over the edge of those rocks.
I stopped for a minute and let my breathing return to normal while I listened to the breeze flowing up from the HUGE void before me. Very faintly I could hear the river below and I suddenly got the chills as I cooled off from the walk. The sun felt good on my back, and I stepped onto an outcropping of rock to get a view down into the canyon.
I looked around to survey the miles of desert around me and could find nothing except the tiny black dot sitting on the horizon. My truck.
I sat down on a rock and just listened. It felt like I was there for hours and probably could have just as easily stayed. It was, what I call, an overwhelming moment. It's a point in life when time stops, and nothing matters except the previous and following seconds. It's the climb to the top of the mountain and the realization that the only reason you are here is cause you decided to be. And it never fails that the one thing that always completes the moment is the thought of home and those who wait for your return.
I sat there and thanked God for every blessing He's given me. I thanked Him for the wisdom to realize that I couldn't have experienced all I have without His grace. And I even thanked Him for the challenges of my past, which without them, I would still fear the unknown and would never have ventured past my own backyard.
I sat for a while longer and took some video that I'll have to try and figure out how to post eventually. There was no way anyone could be at the bottom of the canyon here so I took amusement in tossing a few rocks over the side and counting off 15 seconds before ever hearing them hit.
The sun was starting to get low and I knew I might be sleeping out here, but I at least wanted to be in the truck if I were. Getting back to the truck before nightfall was my next priority. The hike back was straight into the setting sun, so it wasn't that hard to stay on track and I even met an old enemy along the way.
Bayou Boy......remember this??
Once I was back at the truck, I climbed upon the bike and caught some pictures looking back at the canyon.
I then took a movie showing the trails that lead in, and the blazing red rock that now appeared on fire. The setting sun at the end of the Nevada experience was actually taken right then, in Arizona, overlooking the mountains of the Grand Canyon.
With light failing I ripped across that desert trail in half the time it took me to navigate it earlier. I was EXTREMELY thankful that I still had some light left when I got back to the river......I crossed with no problems.
The last 5 miles of trail I took in the dark and it was almost 9pm when I rolled onto the highway. I went back over the northrim and headed south to try and find somewhere I could sleep. There is NOTHING down there and I ended up pulling into a casino parking lot, cracked the windows, fluffing the pillow, and sleeping like a baby... I didn't even care if I woke up in time to catch sunrise.
http://www.dualsportridersoflouisia...hp?1844-Go-west-young-man&highlight=young+man
Here's an excerpt from the report that involved a small section of the North Rim. If you're spending time around there I strongly suggest making it to the Glen Canyon area in southern Utah and possibly even Monument Valley as well.
The whole morning I had been looking for a place that I might be able to get a good picture of the canyon where the setting sunlight lit up the eastern walls and looking at the map I saw a road that curved off the highway and went right up to the rim almost 20 miles south. Watching the GPS and looking for the road, I passed it up and then knew it wasn't meant for major public use. I turned the truck around and stopped when I got to it on the screen......there it was. I took this picture as I closed the gate behind me.
It was obviously a public road, but not one that too much of the public knows about.....or could travel down. I took pictures mostly in the easy sections, but with washed out gullys, hill climbs, and rock slide crossings, I knew it would be an extremely challenging ride to do if I was on the GS.
Rolling along in 4Lo for 80% of the trail, I was losing time with the setting sun and still wasn't halfway to the canyon. Each turn or hill I came to required a first gear crawl to get over the lip of rock shelves or to keep the truck from bottoming out too much in creek crossings. Right where the trail split, I came to a drop that took me into a major washout.
Heavy rains had washed out the trail and I rode around for 20 minutes trying to find a way up the other side and back to the trail. At one point, the riverbed narrows to only a few feet aross and the bare bushes on each side sounded like nails on a chaulk board as they left me reminders of the excursion in the paint on the right side of the truck. Along the river banks I found an abandoned mine shaft..
Finally, I back tracked and got out to walk and find the trail. I came across it about 150ft north of where I entered the river bed and the only way to get to it was straight up the other side. Thank God it was soft sand, cause with the momentum I hit the side at, if it was rock, I'd still be trying to ride the GS out of there.
Once up the other side, things got a bit smoother until I came to a pretty deep gully. The trail became rocky and very narrow and often I was pointed towards the sky, or almost straight down.
This was the apex of a switchback...
And finally, I reached this. The picture doesn't show it well, but the trail goes up at such a sharp incline that I was scared to do it in the truck. I got out to walk it and feel how bad it was and could only make it up halfway without sliding down. Street tires, by-myself, with a bike in the back.....I was turning around.
I was bummed that there was no other access than these trails for a few hundred miles until I saw a faint two track that led off to the north to intersect another trail.
It disappeared before long, but I was getting close to the northern trail according to GPS.
And then I found it.
It was smooth riding from there on and I could barely see the canyon on the horizon. According to the maps, I was about half a mile away running parallel and I decided to hike the rest.
There's a feeling of awe and almost an adrenalline induced breath that you take when you come upon something bigger than you expect. I was flat out dizzy when I peared over the edge of those rocks.
I stopped for a minute and let my breathing return to normal while I listened to the breeze flowing up from the HUGE void before me. Very faintly I could hear the river below and I suddenly got the chills as I cooled off from the walk. The sun felt good on my back, and I stepped onto an outcropping of rock to get a view down into the canyon.
I looked around to survey the miles of desert around me and could find nothing except the tiny black dot sitting on the horizon. My truck.
I sat down on a rock and just listened. It felt like I was there for hours and probably could have just as easily stayed. It was, what I call, an overwhelming moment. It's a point in life when time stops, and nothing matters except the previous and following seconds. It's the climb to the top of the mountain and the realization that the only reason you are here is cause you decided to be. And it never fails that the one thing that always completes the moment is the thought of home and those who wait for your return.
I sat there and thanked God for every blessing He's given me. I thanked Him for the wisdom to realize that I couldn't have experienced all I have without His grace. And I even thanked Him for the challenges of my past, which without them, I would still fear the unknown and would never have ventured past my own backyard.
I sat for a while longer and took some video that I'll have to try and figure out how to post eventually. There was no way anyone could be at the bottom of the canyon here so I took amusement in tossing a few rocks over the side and counting off 15 seconds before ever hearing them hit.
The sun was starting to get low and I knew I might be sleeping out here, but I at least wanted to be in the truck if I were. Getting back to the truck before nightfall was my next priority. The hike back was straight into the setting sun, so it wasn't that hard to stay on track and I even met an old enemy along the way.
Bayou Boy......remember this??
Once I was back at the truck, I climbed upon the bike and caught some pictures looking back at the canyon.
I then took a movie showing the trails that lead in, and the blazing red rock that now appeared on fire. The setting sun at the end of the Nevada experience was actually taken right then, in Arizona, overlooking the mountains of the Grand Canyon.
With light failing I ripped across that desert trail in half the time it took me to navigate it earlier. I was EXTREMELY thankful that I still had some light left when I got back to the river......I crossed with no problems.
The last 5 miles of trail I took in the dark and it was almost 9pm when I rolled onto the highway. I went back over the northrim and headed south to try and find somewhere I could sleep. There is NOTHING down there and I ended up pulling into a casino parking lot, cracked the windows, fluffing the pillow, and sleeping like a baby... I didn't even care if I woke up in time to catch sunrise.
BayouSlide
See ya at the range
I like the North Rim...only 15 percent of the visitation, same wonderful views and closer to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks to boot.
Ritten-Man that's awesome! Great write-up. Thanks for sharing. Those pics are getting me pumped up about going!
BOSS351- My wife went when she was young which is why we are going. Our son just turned 4 so I hope it will be with him through the years as it has with my wife.
BOSS351- My wife went when she was young which is why we are going. Our son just turned 4 so I hope it will be with him through the years as it has with my wife.
Duck Jenkins
Lone Wolf
What about a nice campground near by? Anyone got a suggestion?
I've had one visit there a couple years ago.All I can add is, If you enter at the south entrance, exit the east. From the gift shop/diner/office going east, there are a lot of overlooks worth stopping at. The views are different.
The east entrance was more scenic, and less people.
The Indian Reservation to the west has the Skywalk. We thought about going there, but were warned that it was kind of a rip-off. Pay for parking/shuttle. Everything over priced. Not first hand advice, so maybe research that. The Skywalk itself looked pretty cool.
That was a great write-up. I'm going to search for the whole thing now.
The east entrance was more scenic, and less people.
The Indian Reservation to the west has the Skywalk. We thought about going there, but were warned that it was kind of a rip-off. Pay for parking/shuttle. Everything over priced. Not first hand advice, so maybe research that. The Skywalk itself looked pretty cool.
That was a great write-up. I'm going to search for the whole thing now.
Staff online
-
340six-Global Mod-
Members online
- BIGBORE44
- 340six
- Jstudz220
- J. W. Harris
- GunRelated
- Tonyaav
- lnghrnz
- lsujeep
- tso
- tgrshooter
- WhereIsIt?
- DangerClose3/5
- Nboazman1
- do2gomike
- N4sir
- Gatordude
- John Tesh
- JNorth24
- Denisbl0
- scooterj
- pullstart
- Mxav
- k0k0m0
- fng
- coolcotton
- terrencetec
- Daves94vert
- Camoranger2006
- bulldog
- Peterpaul227
- bearfutedninja
- Nolastorm
- IMUA
- jjguid
- jtj5002
- jdindadell
- freedive10
- honestlou
- kz45
- franch1se82
- electronicwiz
- bayoutiger08
- Bigchillin83
- hipslim
- rjamesmann
- Bastill
- RaleighReloader
- tp56
- wrushing
- Ben Segrest
