#grandcanyonsouthrim – Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

2 August 2018

The Grand Canyon is huge!! I drove the 1.5 hours from Flagstaff while the weather was ok. I missed out on the Canyon at the start of my trip because it started snowing. The weather today was 27c (87F) with a breeze. The Canyon is HUGE. While there I was analysing and comparing the Canyon to every other magnificent landscape I have seen across the last 5 months. Looking over the photos I shouldn’t compare anything but appreciate the beauty of the changing colours and depths of this Wonder of the World. The Canyon is over 1 million acres!! There is nothing to compare it to.

However I had a sense of disappointment. I have experienced so much on this journey that just being BIG isn’t enough. I will get some back lash over this but I didn’t get the buzz I got from Ohiopyle or The Arches or Shoshone Falls or the Mississippi River. Have I seen too much beauty? Is this the infamous Australian “tall poppy syndrome” at work?

Don’t get me wrong, it is still beautiful.

I commend the transport system the park has in place. It is so well organised and easy to get around. I parked in the free parking area in Tusayan near the Imax. The purple bus whizzes you past all the cars lined up to enter the park. Then there are various shuttles which take you to different parts of the Canyon. The shuttles run every 15 minutes, pick up and drop off at spots along each route. It is easy, efficient and free after paying the park entry fee. I had purchased the America Beautiful Annual Park Pass $USD80 which has been well worth the purchase. Grand Canyon entry fee was $35 and I have used the pass in several parks around the USA and it has more than paid for itself. I do not recommend taking your car into the park as it is very difficult to park and I went on a day which did not seem too busy in high season.