Day 10: Sept 4th- Grand Canyon, Arizona

We drove from Bryce to the Grand Canyon, sleeping along the way in small hotel in Fredonia, AZ called The Crazy Jug. It was much better than any of the hideous name-brand hotels that you find on the highway*.

On this map you can see the part of the canyon we saw, or rather, where we were standing while we were looking at it- http://www.nps.gov/grca/grandcanyon/pdf/north_rim_overview.pdf

We started at North Rim Visitors Center and walked to Bright Angel Point, which overlooks Bright Angel Canyon (in which Bright Angel Creek flows south to the Colorado River). From there, we backtracked and walked for an hour or so along the Transept Trail, which overlooks "The Transept', which is one of the many little branch-canyons that lead to Bright Angel.

All the canyon pics here are of either Bright Angel Canyon or the Transept. We could have seen at least one other canyon vista that day and taken another hike. But we strolled and lounged and had lunch and checked out the lodge. We had a fine time hanging out in front of this amazing vista.

We left in late afternoon, and drove to Flagstaff. But the drive from the North Rim to the South Rim that takes you over the Colorado River south of Glen Canyon Dam was one of the best drives on the trip.

*A downside of not planning the trip down to the hour was having to find a place to stay while trying to maximize our driving time. I guess we did ok, we stayed in 9 hotels in 12 nights and averaged $75/night. (If you factor in the 3 nights we took turns driving through the night and sleeping in the car, it's only $60/night.) But 5 of those were the gross chain places: Comfort Inn, Days Inn, Super 8 & Motel 6 and a Carlsbad Inn. By the end of the trip, I had nearly developed a motel-phobia. They all felt dirty to me. Dampish carpet, linens and towels that were not only dingy, but you have to check them for stray marks and pubic hairs as well, loose fixtures, etc.