I will never forget waking up in Monument Valley, probably the most incredible place that I have stayed. Watching the sunrise over the horizon was such a surreal moment – Am I actually here?!
On May 29th 2019, I travelled with Trek America on their Grand Trek tour for six weeks around the USA. We began in New York, travelling south to the West Coast, then North back to the East Coast. I am not affiliated with Trek America. Read all my Trek America posts here. *
Off to the Grand Canyon
The reason I booked this trip was the fact that everyday there was something incredible to see, many of which I never thought I would. The Grand Canyon, however, has always been on my bucket list. It was so exciting knowing that we were about to experience it for ourselves.
Grand Canyon reveal
Our leader got us parked and then gave us all blindfolds to put on. We then had to put our hands on each others shoulders, whilst he was guiding us somewhere. This was messing with my brain, I thought I was going to fall off an edge at any second. We then all stood in a line and our leader counted down….
There it was, THE GRAND CANYON. Actually there in front me. It is one of those places that, until you see it, you won’t know what its like to see in person.
Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour
The helicopter tour was one of the extra activities that you could do. Before booking the trip I had already decided that I would definitely do this. It’s a once in a lifetime experience (which I would gladly do again!). If you have never done anything like this before, I highly recommend it. Yes, we were all a bit nervous beforehand, but, once in the air – it was fine!
We were all so pumped afterwards – it was an amazing feeling. The tour really enabled us to see just how big the Grand Canyon is. Something you can only really grasp when seeing it from the air.
The flight took off from Grand Canyon National Airport, it takes a little while to fly over to The Grand Canyon. The moment in the video below is just insane. You are flying over trees and the next second the ground just opens up beneath you and you are flying over The Grand Canyon.
Our tour was booked with Maverick Helicopters. We all had an incredible experience. The pilot was really friendly and made us all feel at ease!
Mather Campground
We went to the campground before the Helicopter Tour, as some of the group stayed there. I really liked this campsite, we had a lot of space and the toilets were right next to our site. However, for some reason, the showers & laundry were a little walk away. I tried to walk there at night and got lost, luckily I bumped into some others from our group haha!
Mather Campground does have a fairly large supermarket onsite, this was extremely useful for stocking up on hiking snacks.
There was no WiFi at this campground – or signal. But you are prepared for this, your leader should have given you a breakdown with the sites and facilities. I actually enjoyed the downtime, it’s nice to break from that unnecessary scrolling that we all do.
We went to bed fairly early as our first day of hiking tomorrow (Day 16) was going to be a very early start. This day ended up being, possibly one of the most difficult yet something I am really proud of!
Continue reading Trek America 2019
Let me know if you have any questions regarding Trek America or the places we visited ?
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