The Awe of the Grand Canyon

There are very few moments in my life that I can pinpoint experiencing a deep sense of awe, a life-changing kind of awe. In fact, to date there have been three of those moments in my life, and one of them was at the Grand Canyon. As my family and I walked the rim around the canyon, you can’t help but stop several times and just take it all in. It’s almost a time where you hate taking pictures because you don’t want pictures. You simply want to stand and breathe. And frankly, there is not one picture we’ve taken that does any justice whatsoever to standing on the edge, breathing deep and allowing yourself to find God in that moment and realize just how big He is and how small you are.

For me, visiting the Grand Canyon does not inspire great memories and a desire to share a great travel moment as much as it causes me to glorify my God and declare His greatness and sovereignty. Ancient waters and the time of rivers passing could not have accidentally created the majesty that I saw in the canyon. That kind of breathtaking beauty is intentional. It is thought out, imagined, constructed and created. It is the product of inspiration. And in turn, it is what then inspires future generations, invigorates one’s sense of destiny and even perhaps brings some kind of restoration deep in the soul to passions that might have once lay dead or dormant. The Grand Canyon reflects the majesty of our Creator. And that is no accident.

Another takeaway for me is I’m reminded of just what God can do…anything. I’m already a risk taker. But the Grand Canyon reminds me that there are truly no limits. Don’t put yourself in a box. Certainly don’t put God in a box. Remind yourself that God can do the impossible. And be encouraged that there is more to you than meets the eye. Be inspired to go beyond. Push the boundaries of your own expectations.

Truly, there’s nothing more that I can convey other than, go. See for yourself. Breathe deeply and allow yourself to just sit. With that, here are some things that we really enjoyed and encourage you to do on your visit.

• Start at Mather Point, like almost everyone else.
• Walk as much of the rim trail as you can. It’s never boring.
• Watch the sunset at Hopi Point (off the red trail). Spectacular.
• Walk as much of the Bright Angel Trail as you feel comfortable. (not for children)
• If you feel up to it and your knees don’t buckle from heights, hike the trail at Grandview Point. Watch a short video of my hike here.
• Visit the Desert View Watchtower.
• Unfortunately, you will not be inspired by any of the food anywhere on the grounds within the National Park Service.

One thing Andrea and I did not get to do due to the fact that we travel with 3 and 5 year old little boys is hike the Bright Angel Trail 9.5 miles down to the bottom of the canyon and stay at Phantom Ranch. One day, we will go back and we will hike that trail, guaranteed.

Trailer Village RV Park – REVIEW 2.8/5 stars

Honestly, the only saving grace for Trailer Village is that it is smack dab in the middle of the Grand Canyon. And that part is great. It also has full hookups with 50A service. But the perks end there. What we did not know prior to our visit (even though it is stated clearly on their website) is that there is NO WIFI. To make matters worse, we only got 1 bar of 3G service with AT&T. Next level of bad, the wifi at the nearby Yavapai Lodge was terrible and near unusable. If you are going to the Grand Canyon to be completely disconnected, I highly recommend staying here.

Regarding sewer hookups, the park does not allow you to keep your sewer hose connected which is a downer. They claim the ravens will come by and poke holes, and I agree, that would be terrible. The grounds are unkept and unattractive. There are no amenities minus a bathroom and shower on the grounds which I’m pretty sure most people would not want to use. And here’s what you won’t know unless you actually visit. The grounds map they advertise on the website only shows you half of the park (the visitors area). The park is actually double that size and the other part of the park is housing for workers on the grounds of the Grand Canyon. The housing conditions are terrible and looks sort of like a shandy village. Sad and extremely unpleasant for tourists.