We woke up this morning, quickly packed and bid farewell to Lake Powell. We had a fantastic two full days out on the lake! As we travelled south on Highway 89, we had to make a detour shortly after leaving due to a landslide that occurred last year. The new road from Page, Arizona, now called 89T (Temp) but earlier called Indian Road 20 ran through a large Indian reservation. Several hours later we hit the east (far east) entrance to the Grand Canyon (South Rim) around noon and made our way directly to the National Park campground, Trailer Village. 
It was the only campground in GCNP with full hookups. We were all excited as our very close friends from back home, Matt and Andrea and Andrea’s sister, Gaynor, and her two sons would be joining us for the next 48 hours here at GCNP. Gaynor and her family live in southern Arizona, so Matt and Andrea decided to come out for a visit that coincided with our travels. By 12:30, we had all met up at the campground and had our welcome hugs all around and were plotting our next 48 hours of activities. We set up and were off to the main hub of activity, the Grand Canyon Village Historic District.
Mom definitely doesn’t like this kind of “living on the edge”.:{
As we parked and made our way to the edge of the canyon, we all stood amazed at the scope and size of what lay before us. I particularly had been somewhat skeptical of GC (and all of its hype) but it lived up to its billing as one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World! It made you feel very small to stand there on the edge and peer down thousands of feet into the canyons below. We decided to waste no time and immediately set off to do a very short section of the park’s famed Bright Angel Trail.
on Bright Angel Trail
The trail is famous as it descends all the way to the base of the canyon to Phantom Ranch near the Colorado River. The trip roundtrip is over 19 miles and is usually done in two days! The trail is out and back, so obviously the first half is much easier as you descend 4400’ in elevation from the rim to the river. Day 2 as you climb 9.5 miles in the often 110 degree plus heat in the base of the canyon is the undoing of many a bold hiker. We contented ourselves with just a short walk on the famed trail that is shared by both hikers and mules alike. As we got back to the rim we used the next several hours to explore the Kolb Brothers art/photography studio, the Lookout Studio, the Hopi House (Native American Art), and Verkamps as well as take in the canyon from many wonderful vantage points along the Rim Trail. We decided to have a late dinner at the very famous El Tovar Restaurant that sat very close to the rim. The restaurant was extremely nice with white table cloths and waiters wearing formal attire- we did not look out of place though as many other diners also were wearing their hiking clothes! We enjoyed a great dinner and a fantastic first day here in beautiful Grand Canyon!
It is impossible to truly reflect the massiveness and full beauty in one picture.