There is a lookout at The Grand Canyon called "Ooh Aah" and I am fairly certain that is because those are the sounds people make when they see the canyon for the first time, or perhaps just "wow". It really is an incredible place and looks vastly different depending on the time of day. Our first glimpse was in the cool of the late afternoon and we walked along the rim to get to a good vantage point to watch the sun go down. Along the way, the pretty wildflowers caught my eye and then my son pointed out some shy deer peering down at us from their spot above the trail. They were so beautiful! 
Looking out across the canyon the sun would bathe some rock faces in bright sunshine and in other places there were deep shadows making for very interesting viewing. As the sun went down the rocks changed colour and a very fresh wind was blowing by then, making me very grateful, for my little red puffer jacket and a lift back to the accommodation on the bus.
We rose early next morning to try to do our 10km hike before the real heat of the day, tackling just a portion of the South Kaibab Trail which would see us go part of the way down the canyon to a place called Skeleton Rock and then return. It was cool as we began our descent and quite steep so I was stepping very cautiously as the path was a little loose in places. We wound our way down the switchbacks and the view was of course breathtaking. We stopped for a little break and a swig of coffee, and to shed our jackets, and a visit to the loo in what were by far and away the most dreadful loos I've ever had the misfortune to need to use, enough said about that!, before continuing on our descent which wasn't too difficult although rough and steep in places, but at the back of our minds was, "what goes down, must go up"! We stopped a lot to take videos and photos and to check out the view, but made it to Skeleton Rock and had a little picnic against the most beautiful backdrop. We could glimpse a tiny part of the mighty Colorado River way down below us and even a couple of canoes or rafts heading downstream, and up high we saw a couple of Condors in flight. An inquisitive little squirrel hung about hoping for some tidbits from our picnic too and he/she was very cute.
After our picnic it was time to make our ascent. By that stage it was warming up. I had done a bit of training before embarking on this trip by walking the hilly streets where we live and hiking in the Glasshouse Mountains but I must confess, I found the ascent of the Grand Canyon tough going, having to stop to catch my breath way more often than I thought I would need to. Of course one thing in my defence is that we live at sea level but the rim of The Grand Canyon is an elevation of over 2000 metres which needed a little bit of adjusting to. My lovely daughter-in-law, Jo, was having the same difficulty so we stopped together in any tiny scrap of shade we could find to literally catch our breath before climbing ever upwards. We were extremely thankful for the cool breeze as the heat was very dry. My son had repeatedly cautioned us to carry sufficient water as heatstroke is a real possibility when in the canyon. We made it to the top with a mixture of joy, relief and a sense of achievement - most people who visit here just walk the rim.
After a cleansing shower, some food and a little rest we were feeling pretty good, enough so that we had a pizza for dinner at the local pizza pub and then went back to a different part of the rim and walked some more as the sun went down. Before leaving to continue on to Sedona, we rose early once more to see another part of the canyon, once again walking the rim. On our way out, we were amazed to see the huge line of traffic to get into the park - it stretched all the way into town! Next stop, Sedona.