South Rim of the Grand Canyon

October 15th -19th

Finally made it to the grand Canyon after changing our plans twice. We stayed at Williams, AZ, 50 miles south of the entrance. Williams has the most expensive diesel in the U.S. We paid $4.29 per gal. We were told because it is so close to the Grand Canyon, the only Natural Wonder of the World in the United States. It gets 7 million visitors a year.

We had heard about how bad the parking is, so we decided to take a tour. We usually aren't tour people but decided to go for it. We went with Marvelous Marv. He is called the "Indiana Jones of the Grand Canyon".  We thought he was a bit spendy, but he was well worth it. He picked us up at the campground in a bright orange van. The van was one of the reasons we went with him. We didn't want a large tour bus.  It held 12 passengers, but only 6 went that day. It was a very private, personal tour. It took an hour to get to the entrance and the whole way, he was talking about the history and people of the area. He has lived in Williams his whole life.  He bills his tour as "not the politically correct tour". He is right. He calls himself an aging Vietnam Vet hippie.  He entertained us with all his views on everything, including the Parks and the gov.  We agreed with almost everything.  Everywhere we stopped he told us what we were looking at. I saw other people listening because he was so informative.   He took each of our cameras and took pictures of all of us.  We really enjoyed the whole day. I would recommend him to anyone going to the Canyon.

If you work at the Grand Canyon or Grand Canyon Village, right outside the park,  the company puts you in their own housing.   Five employees live in small 1 bedroom cabins. They import most of the employees from other counties because of the working conditions. 

Overview of the Grand Canyon

Marvelous Marv, our tour guide

Lots of views have no guardrails. As you can see, we are close to the edge.  Yikes!  Would sure have to have a hold of kids hands.  Taken by Marvelous Marv

Can't miss the bright orange  Marvelous Marv tour van

This is part of the Bright Angel Trail. It goes all the way down into the bottom of the Canyon for 22 miles.. The guy in the blue shirt with his back to us is Denny. We didn't go very far beyond the tunnel, which was about a mile.

Another overview.

Donkeys have been used in the Grand Canyon for hundreds of years, but they are going to ban them in a few years.  The  tourists are complaining of their waste on the trails.  It is a shame. Donkeys were here long before the tourists.  It isn't hard just to step around it.  Anytime anything has been built, donkeys are used to carry everything.

This is an example of  the donkeys bringing all the material to build this art studio. It was built in 1929

This is the only view of the Colorado River from the south rim. There is a hotel down there that is booked YEARS ahead.  Another case of the donkeys taking everything down from building materials to food.  Marv said that on any given day there are approximately 3000 people at the bottom, hiking, rafting, taking horse and donkey rides or at the hotel.

Good looking couple, it is rare to have both of us smiling in the same photo

Sheer walls rim the canyon. People catching climb these. NOT ME!

Williams is the last town on Rte 66 to be bypassed by the freeway. It didn't die like alot of the towns because it is the closest to the Grand Canyon. If you don't live inside the city limits, you have to have go get it  or have your water delivered.  That includes the Grand Canyon. It is very expensive, around $1.12 per gallon.  Think of how much a person uses in a day.  I'm sure the tourists in the Canyon aren't too concerned about conserving.  Marvelous Marv said the hotel has had  bills of $42,000 per month.