Awe inspiring is right! We are continuing our progress from the bottom of the Escalante Staircase and have reached Flagstaff Arizona.

We managed to do quite a few things in, and around, Flagstaff – but this is focused on our Grand Adventure! The continuation of our trip started back at the Painted Desert. We are documenting our travels up the Escalante Staircase, which is much more than the small BLM National Monument in Utah (Which you can read about here). It actually crosses at least 2 states creating awe inspiring geological features seen nowhere else on Earth!

Heading north out of Flagstaff

If you have studied any geography of the American West, you know where we are heading. The Big Ditch, the hole in Arizona – yes! The Grand Canyon. Ash and Sierra had never seen the Grand Canyon before and it was on their “must see list”.

The trip north along state road 180 is not exactly awe inspiring, but it is beautiful. There are a few mountain passes, lots of trees and great views.

Arrival; less than awe inspiring

National Parks are hammered these days. We pkanned accordingly and left early enough to be there right when the park opened. That was about 30 minutes too late. There was a line that was about 25 minutes long and we had to deal wih large crowds at most overlooks. I can only imagine what it was like a few hours later.

Finally, some awe inspiring sights!

We chose to come in the south (west) entrance as experience has shown me that the “awe inspiring experience” wears off quick. If you come in the Eastern entrance, you drive all along the canyon with quickj dives out to the rim to see a few overlooks and by the time you reach some of the rim trails it starts to feel repetitive.

If you have been to the Grand Canyon in the past, be prepared for a bit of a shock. There are dozens of Theme Park-esque parking lots and shuttles running all around Grand Canyon Village. They have put in a lot more safety barriers, I guess that is good, but takes some of the excitement and raw beauty away and due to the ease of getting everywhere (very little walking unless you so choose) people are EVERYWHERE.

We finally made it out to the rim trail and started getting some great views. Now this is awe inspiring!

Amazing in every direction

We did not have the time, or physical endurance/training to take a trip down into the canyon, so we walked a few miles along the rim. It is truly awe inspiring how deep the canyon is, how far “back in time” you are looking and and the fact that the bottom of the canyon etches in the “basement rocks” (ie, mantel). This part of the Escalante Staircase showcases almost the entire depth and magnitude – but it is missing about 500 million years – stay tuned!

The longer you stare into the abyss, the more you see. There are random caves, bridges down in the bottom for early explorers and miners to cross the Colorado River and you can even see the “basement rock” in a few places.

All in all, a great, and truly, awe inspiring trip

We are holding on to the Grand Canyon as a “gotta go back and punish ourselves” location. There is so much to do and see there and we really want to hike down into the canyon. There are just some major training moments that need to happen between then and now!

Have there been any places that you have been that you have marked as “must go back” because you simply want to do more?

We are still working our way up the Escalante Staircase, there is more to come! Abd we had a great time in the Flagstaff area! Keep up with us by subscribing on our front page here, check out our archives here and join the adventure!