Grand Canyon - South Rim Trail - Mather Point - Mohave Point - Hopi Point - Backcountry Parking

Monday August 8, 2016: Day 1 Summer 2016 RV Trip
Grand Canyon - South Rim
Mather Point - Visitor Center

64 North to Grand Canyon

Welcome to Northern Arizona.  Until now, my vision of Arizona had always been brown-sandy desert.  However, driving north out of Phoenix to I-40 west, we climbed into the mountain air and the brown became green.  Pretty amazing!

Yaba-daba-doo!

Griswald's to the Canyon - National Lampoons Vacation!

Many deer just past the main entrance - drive careful!

Grand Canyon at Mather Point

At age 41, I finally made it to the Grand Canyon.  This picture represents my first view.  We rented a 25-foot RV, which is a great size to navigate around and park in most places.  However, we were still forced to park in the RV parking area, which is very limited over here.  Making it worse, we arrived pretty late in the day.  Fortunately, we lucked out on the very last spot.

Some People are Crazy!

We walked around this area for an hour or so, just to kinda dip our feet in.  From there, jumped back into the RV and drove west down the main road to the Backcountry parking lot.  This is the best place for overnight RVers to chill out for free overnight.  It was early evening and there was plenty of space to set up camp.  Generator on - dinner is served!

With a couple hours of sunlight left, we walked down to the Shuttle Bus by the Bright Angel Trailhead.  Although late in the day, the line to jump aboard the free transit was long.  The shuttles run every 15 minutes, or less.  It took us nearly an hour to hitch a ride.  Heading west from this point, your only option is to shuttle or hike along the South Rim Trail.

Mohave Point

Grand Canyon - South Rim Trail
Mohave Point to Hopi Point
1.1 Miles * +/- 25 Feet

South Rim Trail

Originally, I was hoping to shuttle all the way to the end, Hermits Point.  Unfortunately, the bus driver forced the rest of us off at Mohave Point because after a certain hour, they do not go further than this stop.  From here, we hiked back to the east along the South Rim Trail, just a little over a mile back to Hopi Point and then jumped back on the shuttle.  This area is a good spot for the Grand Canyon Sunset...