Southwest USA Trip - September 2015: Day 10 - Page, AZ to Grand Canyon and Flagstaff, AZ

Day 10. Man ole man. Another terrific day and another early start. Plus, just by dropping South yesterday from Utah into Arizona, I gained another hour. Arizona is actually on Mountain Time just like Utah however, since they don't recognize Daylight Savings Time, anytime you're here in the Summer time its as if they are on Pacific Time instead of Mountain Time since they keep their clocks the same year round.

So early for Arizona meant getting up around 5:30AM local time (but actually 7:30AM Dallas Time). I left too early for the office to even be open yet so I just dropped off the keys, filled up the tank, grabbed a breakfast sandwich and coffee, and started heading towards the Grand Canyon.

The drive entering into the canyon from the East was nice and I got to stop at a few spots where you could see the canyon starting to develop and open within the earth. The closer I approached the actual entrance, the wider and wider the canyon started to grow.

Prior to coming on this trip, I had purchased an annual America the Beautiful National Parks Pass for $80. That allows you into any and all National Parks across the country for the next 12 months. And not only does it have a place on the back of the card for you to sign, it also has a place for someone else to sign. This way you can use it and share it with someone else. So that $80 investment paid for itself after about 2 park visits. For instance, entrance free into the Grand Canyon today was $30 and entrance into Zion the other day was also $30. I think Bryce might have been around $20 or $25 but for me, I just flash my pass and ID and then move right along. It also comes with a placard to hang from your rear view mirror.

So as I approached the entrance to the park, I showed my pass and ID and I was set to enter. The Ranger gave me a map and brochure and asked if this was my first visit. I told her I'd been here and few times previously, we bid each other a good day, and then it was onto the first stop.

When coming in from this direction, the Eastern side of the Canyon is known as the Desert View and so the first stop entering from the East side is of course also the last stop if you're exiting the park that way. It's call the Desert View & Watchtower. You'll see from my pictures below the actual stone Watchtower that stands at this location as well as some pictures I took from inside. It has a little gift shop inside and also the walls are all painted by the local Indians with different murals. There is a spiral staircase that goes up each floor with a simple landing at each level and some areas on lower levels where you can walk out onto a deck area and take pictures. The very top floor is all enclosed but has windows all around so you can look out and take pictures through the windows. My only dislike with this setup is that sometimes its hard to keep glare or reflections in the glass from showing up in your final photos. But the views from the top are spectacular.

Once I left this area, the next stop on my way to the Visitor Center at the South Rim was Navajo Point. From here, you could also see the Watchtower off in the distance on the top of the hill. Navajo Point also offers its own magnificent views.

Following Navajo Point, the next few stops along the way included Lipan Point, Moran Point, and Grandview Point before finally arriving at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center at the South Rim.

The main viewing spot at the Visitor Center, and the one probably most recognizable from photographs, are from this location called Mather Point located behind the Visitor Center. Another short hike along the Rim Trail heading West from the Visitor Center leads you to Yaki Point. This Rim Trail starts at the Visitor Center and heading West, will eventually take you all the way down to the Grand Canyon Village past several other points or overlooks. However, everywhere along the trail you can stop and take pictures because the Rim Trail literally follows the South Rim of the Canyon and there is no railing or anything else to stop you from walking off the paved trail and closer to the edge of the cliffs to get pictures. You'll see many people actually walking out onto rock formations to try and get as close as possible for that perfect picture. Not for me but I get as close as I'm comfortable with getting.

I finished up my stay at the Grand Canyon with lunch at a restaurant located in the Grand Canyon Village. Then I headed South towards Flagstaff. Stopped at a few spots along the way as I neared Flagstaff to capture some nice pictures of the forest and mountains that surround Flagstaff, then got checked in at my hotel for the evening. Also, wanted to get pictures to start uploading as soon as possible since I have so many.

So, after capturing almost 300 pictures today, its very difficult to try and weed through them all and determine which ones might be duplicate shots of others or just from a slightly different angle. Or which ones just aren't worthy of sharing. Instead, I'm not going to worry too much about it and just upload them. You the viewer can then decide what you do and don't want to look at or what you think you've seen already.

I hope you enjoy the views of the Grand Canyon and tomorrow, another very photo worthy destination. Sedona, AZ as well as Lake Montezuma, Camp Verde, and Prescott before stopping there for the night. The Red Rocks of Sedona are really something to see and the area is so different from Flagstaff even though its a very short drive to the South.

So again, please enjoy the photos and thanks for following. Of course there is always more to come tomorrow so keep checking back for the latest updates. Thanks!