Exploring The Grand Canyon

As a 30-something year-old woman, I wanted my first trip to the Grand Canyon to be something to remember. We never took that quintessential family trip to stare over the edge. To be honest, I’m kind of glad we didn’t. I’m not sure that prepubescent Mel would have appreciated it the way it deserves. She would have been too busy listening to Backstreet Boys and being utterly unimpressed with everything. My poor parents.

Don’t worry, as I grew up in the mountains of Colorado, I couldn’t help but fall completely in love with the outdoors and the adventure it contained. Eventually I ditched my piss-poor attitude for some hiking boots and learned to appreciate the great outdoors.

So, for our 5th wedding anniversary, Bart and I decided it was only fitting to head out and explore the Grand Canyon. We loaded the car with our camping gear and set off on our 10 hour drive to Arizona.

DAY 1

We decided to spend our first night “glamping” in the cutest AirBnB [that] side of the Rocky Mountains. Off a dirt road, just miles outside of Flagstaff was a charming, refurbished airstream. The camper was parked in the middle of a field of sunflowers, where we were greeted by its resident goats who eagerly awaited pets and snacks – to my delight. They quickly learned I was a total sucker and they spent the rest of the evening layin’ it on thick for some tasty treats.

The camper was a hipster millennials fantasy. It was the perfect place to stretch out and rest our bones after the long haul. We spent our evening cuddled around a fire and stargazing under a blanket of endless, twinkling lights. We welcomed the comfy bed, knowing it would be the last bed we slept in for a few days.

DAY 2

The next morning, we stocked up on the essentials (peanut butter, hotdogs and beer) and bid adieu to our goat gang. We decided to make our first stop the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We figured the best way to introduce ourselves to the park was to see the more touristy side for those postcard-worthy shots. My first steps to the edge of the wall were indescribable. People always talk about how small you feel standing next to the ocean, but this took that sensation to a new level.

As we continued exploring the paved, winding trails, we were greeted by human-acclimated squirrels expecting handouts and waddling around like they own the place. At one point, we even stumbled upon a full-grown cow elk using the water fountain. A crowd started to form pretty quickly as we collectively chuckled at the unexpected people leaving the bathroom. It wasn’t until the park ranger explained to us how dangerous it was that we started to see the sadness in the whole thing. If you were an elk and you had to trek miles every day to find fresh water, but suddenly found a magic water source, wouldn’t you want to just drink from there from now on? Anyway, I won’t get on my soapbox. Please, just don’t feed the wildlife. It’s not safe for them or you.

As the day progressed, we got braver and ventured further out onto the plateaus, getting vantage points usually reserved for the birds. We stayed for hours, snapping photos and staring into the endless layered bands of red rocks. Finally, the sun started to sink in the sky. So we made our way to our first camping spot at Mather Campground.

Pro tip: make your camping reservations online weeks in advance. The best spots go quick! 

We managed to snag a spot at the edge of the campground facing the canyon. We could hear the coyotes and owls in the distance, serenading us to sleep.

Day 3

We woke up bright and early to make the 5-hour drive to the North Rim of the canyon. We had a date with couple of mules named Lil’ Joe and Homer. They were waiting to guide us down into the canyon. We saddled up with Grand Canyon Trail Ride for a half-day ride down into a more wooded and dense part of the canyon. A lot of it actually reminded us of Colorado, with towering forest of Pine and red sandstone.

Getting up onto Lil’ Joe, he was a lot taller than I thought mules would be. Luckily, our helpful guides were there to show us how to pull back on the reins and kick their sides to get them to move. In a thick, southern drawl, she told us he really liked to frequently stop for snacks and that I shouldn’t let him. I quickly broke that rule. To say the ride was a bit nerve wracking at first, would be an understatement. Seeing their hooves kick loose rocks down the side of the cliff was unnerving, to say the least. But once we learned to trust our animals, we were able to be present and enjoy the wonder of the towering canyon walls around us.

We dismounted our mules at the Supai Tunnel, where we were given time to explore, stretch our legs and give our trusty steeds a well-deserved break. The views were breathtaking and our bums were some how both numb and sore at the same time. The trek back up the trail made me really appreciate our mules. These sweet animals worked HARD to get us back to the top. It was about this time that I learned you never want to be behind the gassiest mule in the line.

Once we got back to the corral, we said farewell to our four-legged friends, now bonafide muleteers. No really, we got a certificate. We welcomed the cushy seats, air conditioning and true crime podcast on our 1-hour drive to Jacob Lake campground. Once we got to our spot, we pitched our tent, strung our hammocks and watched the sun set over the pine forest.

DAY 4

One of the great things about camping, is your body is so in tune with the sun and a natural sleep cycle. You go to bed when it’s dark because your tired. You wake up with the sun and can only sleep so late past it’s rising before it pushes you out of the tent with it’s warmth.

We woke up with the sun and packed up to head north to the very edge of Arizona. We’d spend our last day hopping back and forth over the state line into Utah.

Our first stop was to venture into the winding caverns of Antelope Canyon. Just east of the little town of Page, Arizona sits a slot canyon of eroded Navajo sandstone. We hopped on a guided tour (the only way you can see it) and descended the five flights of stairs into the underground wonderland. Once in the canyon, we twisted through towering red, pink and purple sand walls. Streams of light pierced through the canyon and created beams that looked like something straight from a Hollywood set. It felt other-worldly, like we were on Mars. It felt sacred. We snapped furiously on our iPhone X’s, trying desperately to capture the vivid colours and hypnotic lighting. Good news was, it was almost impossible to take a bad photo down there.

As a grand finale to our anniversary trip, we figured a day at the beach was just what the doctor ordered. So we headed into Utah to camp on the white sands of Lake Powell. We found a primitive camping spot at Lone Rock Beach where we quickly pitched our tent to stake our claim. We ran down to the shore with our $5 gas station floaty in hand. The water there is a crystal teal blue with glittering wakes. It’s surrounded by white rock formations with the beach’s namesake right in the middle. At one point I got the hair-brained idea to swim out to it on our inflatable raft, but after about 10 feet of embarrassing doggy paddling, decided I didn’t want to drown that day.

At one point a group of campers started encroaching onto our turf. They parked their big, flashy truck right next to our tent, along with their RV, four vehicles and unnecessary amount of camping and outdoor adventure gear. I stood around and stared at them in a pitiful, passive-aggressive attempt to puff my chest and stand my ground. It was about that time that Bart sweetly pointed out all the camera equipment and lighting surrounding the truck. As it turns out, our camping spot was so good, that Ford Truck flew out a crew to do a photoshoot. Okay, they probably scouted that spot out way before we stumbled upon it, but it still felt really cool to have picked such a great place to pitch our tent.

We spent the day swimming and exploring the beach. As the sun started to get lower in the sky, Bart insisted on snapping a few photos of me, much to my dismay. As much as I hate getting my picture taken, even I had to admit that they came out pretty sweet. The landscape at that beach seemed to constantly change as the light hit it in different directions. The white rocks next to the turquoise water put on a dazzling display of colour and light until before we knew it, the sun was gone. The film crew wrapped up and headed back to their trailers just in time for us to retire to our cozy, fireside tent in the sand. We kept the fly off that night to fall asleep under the clear sky of the milky way.

Our trip to the deserts of Arizona was the perfect way for us to celebrate our lives together. With only our camping gear, our sense of adventure and each other, we were able to leave the everyday behind to unplug and reconnect to each other.

This blog post was written by the amazing, talented, smart, beautiful, Melissa Williams. Follow her adventures on Instagram.

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