After driving through the Navajo Reservation—which reminded me of my home country in terms of how little anyone cares about anything—and spending the night in a tent, we met up with Polina, Masha, and Dasha, with whom we were to continue our journey. They had arrived after spending a couple of days in Vegas, and now the Grand Canyon lay before us. Or rather, 'lay'—I'm not sure exactly what position it was in, but it was there, and we were there, and how lucky we both were that day!
I won't even bother trying to describe it. Pines on the edges, a river down below, and everything else—call it whatever you want. I don't think words for it exist in known languages yet. Although, maybe we should invent some. For example, a word that means 'I've been to the Grand Canyon!' or 'Well, that's no Grand Canyon'—they might be used rarely, but everyone would understand what you mean.
You can view the Canyon from the North Rim and the South Rim. The distance between the two points is at least 7 hours of driving, as you have to go around the entire canyon, which is about 300 kilometers. We decided to see it from the south (Grand Canyon Village), as there is more to do there, and they say the views are better. In the Canyon itself, like in any other national park, there is a road you can drive on to look at all this madness. But for some reason, it's not accessible to mere mortals everywhere, and only those initiated into the secrets of the ancient art of bus driving can take you to certain places.
It's worth taking such a bus to the left towards Hermits Rest; you don't have to get off at every viewpoint along the way, but you really should at Maricopa Point, Mohave Point, Pima Point, and Powell Point. Although, choose for yourself, of course—it'll all be cool. Also, at Bright Angel Lodge, where this bus departs from, you can descend into the Canyon and walk along the hiking trails. True, it will take about 4 hours, guaranteed, and you'll definitely want to have and take as much water as possible, because it's written everywhere here that you need to consume at least 4 liters of water a day. And you have to believe signs in a language you don't understand.)
They will also give you a park map at the entrance, so don't worry, you won't get lost) By the way, the buses are on it too) But as always, first we go to the Visitor Center, get intelligence, and only then act according to the situation. The Canyon is diverse, so if you have time, explore it until you get tired of it, but in any case, save the evening for what is described below.
After looking at the park, sighing about how it could have happened, wow, nature has really outdone itself (and so on), you can try this thing. About 10 km from the park, there is an airfield from which planes and helicopters fly over the Grand Canyon. So, a 1.5-hour flight over the entire park by plane will cost you $80. If you compare it with the views from the ground—it's better not to compare. Different things) It's worth choosing the start time of the flight—around 5:30-6:00 PM, then you will catch the setting sun, and in these places, it is an absolute value, a great constant on which everything rests.)
I'm writing so dryly because I don't even know what to say. You look at the photo and think that words will only spoil it. It's cool, in short.)
After sunset, we head to Las Vegas. After a couple of hours on the road, we suddenly drive up to some checkpoint. We are checked by a soldier, 100 meters later another one, then another. We start to suspect that we have driven into some secret base, and we are about to be caught and sent back!
But no, it's just the security system for the Hoover Dam. It's illuminated from all sides, everything is cool. Huge concrete towers stick out of the lake, only for some reason there is almost no water in it. Must be the off-season, we think, and drive on, having managed to stop traffic right in the middle of it, where there are 'no stopping' signs everywhere, just to get out and take pictures)))
