The Grand Canyon has long had the prestigious title of one of the 'seven natural wonders of the world' and seeing such an untouched spectacle at sunrise is truly magical!
Sabrina at The Grand Canyon
Little text is needed with photos like these, just one individual image, in my opinion, should sway you to add this amazing place to your bucket list. For those of you tempted, here's exactly how we were able to see such an incredible sight.
There are three public entrances to the grand Canyon, the North, South and East rim with the South taking centre stage as the most frequently visited entrance. We chose the South entrance on our visit as it was simply the closest to our pre-planned road trip route. My hubby and I were driving the iconic Route 66 at the time of our visit so we opted to stay within the National Park itself for the evening. We hadn't pre-booked any of our accommodation due to the nature of our spontaneous road trip so we were really lucky to arrive at The Grand Canyon and find the on-site Yavapai Lodge upon entry and even luckier that there was a room available! This hotel was a great find, with free shuttle busses to look-out points for the morning.
After a few hours sleep we set the alarm for 3.30am and were on the bus for 4am! Even in the height of summer the mornings are freezing so we layered up in woolies and denim and made our way to the look-out point with our hat and gloves in tow.
As it’s was so ridiculously early and cold, few people were brave enough to sit and wait in the dark for the sun to rise so we got to enjoy one of nature's most amazing sights in near solidarity. Each look-out point is also a walking trail, we chose Yaki Point which is where all these snaps were taken. After arriving at the point in pitch black we wandered around the cliffs edge with a torch whilst the light starting creeping up, to find a private little lookout for just the two of us. As the sun started rising we moved from edge to edge to watch the magnificent display of rich warm colours dancing through the canyons from as many unique angles as we could. It was one of the greatest shows I have even seen from nature and a truly remarkable experience!
The most amazing time to see The Grand Canyon in all it’s glory is during sunrise and sunset, both times of day allow you to watch the pretty colours dance across the rocks and see them change dramatically in the space of an hour. Sunset is beautiful, but very busy. If you are looking for perfectly uninterrupted pictures and videos then you need to get your butt up for sunrise! Waking up in the pitch black is not an easy task, braving the freezing morning weather is just about bearable but the reward is more than worth it!
Written by Sabrina Chakici, follow her travels on instagram @sabrina_chakici "
Tagged in Sabrina Chakici