20 Years; 20 Places: No.15 Grand Canyon

Another Place on my list as we wile our way to the 20 that gave me the most memories. All this to commemorate my 20 years of writing this Blog.

In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 15 is The Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The United States has so many incredible national parks and I have been to a few, and I thought one at least deserved to make my listing.

Furrowed by the 1,450 mile long Colorado River, The Grand Canyon is an overwhelming experience and superlatives often fail to do the landscape justice. Carved over several million years, the massive canyon is more than a mile deep, is 277 miles long and sits in the state of Arizona.

You can hike around its perimeter but our visit was to the West Rim. From there we got into a helicopter and flew a mile deep into the canyon itself. Soaring vertically down, it was an incredible experience. At the river’s edge we jumped onto a pontoon boat and caught our breaths. We then spent about 20 minutes floating down the Colorado River in between gold and red cliffs. The silence was as golden as some of the rocks.

Also at the West Rim was the then brand new horseshoe-shaped 65 feet long Sky Walk (It opened in 2007). It is a huge tourist trap, but it sits 4,000 feet above sea level beyond the edge of the canyon facing what is called Eagle Point.

If time, and fitness, are no object I’d recommend hiking at least part of the Canyon, and if you can down into it to see those red, rust, rose, white, and burnt orange rock sequences up close preserved by Arizona’s dry air.

That day we had at the Grand Canyon in 2008 will long live in the memory because mostly I realized an ambition and was allowed to co-pilot the little 7-seater Cessna we booked for our trip back the 100 miles to Sedona airport.

It was an absolute thrill, even though for the last 20 minutes I thought I was going to be sick. We were so lucky that just the two of us had booked the trip for that day, and I will be forever grateful to our superb guide and pilot (and flying instructor) Chris for allowing me the chance of a free lesson.

The Grand Canyon, Arizona. Me and the other half road trip 2008.