Magnificent, Majestic Beauty

Have you ever ventured forth with just a map, a vehicle, a driver, a navigator, and the goal of seeing one fantastic, much-talked about naturally made wonder?

Well, that is what the two of us decided to do this past October.  With our vehicle  packed with our luggage and additional winter jackets (just in case), we left home for....drum roll.....

The Grand Canyon

This was the right time of year for us to finally visit the Canyon, a much-discussed destination for us in the past.

But we wished to visit Bryce Canyon first, as we had heard so much about its beauty:

We will always remember hiking the Navaho Loop.  When we arrived at 6:30 pm, the Canyon was slowly being immersed in the golden halo of the sun setting.  We decided to descend to the Canyon's base by hiking down the narrow trail of the Navaho Loop.  After going down a bit, we thought we should turn around and go back up, as the sun was beginning to set.  But since we had already trekked some distance down, we thought:  Let's get to the base, walk along the dry river bank, and then go up a different route.  Look what we saw:

But what was breath-taking:  to be able to hike up the Trail with the moon guiding us along the switchbacks.  It was a hike up and yes, we were breathing hard, but it was a great experience.  To be able to say that we had a romantic, moonlit hike in Bryce Canyon:  PRICELESS

Hiking along the Navaho Loop

Moonlit walk, Bryce Canyon

We fell in love with the red cliffs of Zion National Park.  This would be an ideal place to return and explore in more detail.

More photos from Zion National Park:

After visiting Bryce and Zion, we made our way to our destination, the Grand Canyon, and yes, it truly was Grand!  The size of this Canyon is undescribeable--you have to just use your eyes and try to take in the views before you.

Different Terrains of Grand Canyon

Every place we looked, we were constantly amazed by the scenery's grandeur.

And here is someone having fun with the photographer; he was really making me nervous as he balanced on this rocky but smooth topped jutting.

The colours of the sandstone are so intense, so brilliant, and so memorable.  To have Mother Nature create, over billions of years, these majestic, fascinating works of beauty and art--what an experience for us and all those peoples of centuries long ago and for the future generations to follow.