Day 15 - 30 Sept: Grand Canyon, AZ

A freezing night but the boys were fine in the van and we were OK in the roof-top tent, huddled together for warmth. We've ended up that way around as we found the bed in the van a bit less comfortable than the one upstairs, but it's ok for the boys as they're short enough to sleep across. Plus when the boys were up there we were kept awake as their every move (of which there were many) was amplified by the height and made the whole van rock.

We stoked the fires with a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, then drove the 25 miles from our Desert View campground to Grand Canyon Village. We'd decided to do a walk down into the canyon, so set off on the Bright Angel Trail, an ancient local route down, available because of a fault which had opened up the sheer cliff face, allowing access. It goes a long way down, but we only walked for about a mile, descending roughly 600 feet from the South Rim. The Colorado is about a mile-and-a-half down, so we only went a fraction of the way. It was still really cool, and a fair old effort going back up.

After some recuperative ice cream - the biggest double-scoop cones I have ever seen, so big that they gave you a bowl as well, because it was virtually impossible to eat them without the ice cream falling off the cone...

..we walked along the top of the rim for a couple more miles, and checked out some of the historical and geological stuff, then hopped on one of the shuttle buses back to the van.

Grabbed some lunch then we jumped on another shuttle to the other end of South Rim and walked about 4 miles back, taking in the stunning views from that perspective.

Through all this we'd had our richest wildlife day. Early on was the highlight - for me, anyway. Driving in to the Village I glanced in the mirror and saw something wandering across the road behind us. Although I got a good but brief look at it (and Dylan got a glimpse) I'm not sure what it was. Pretty certain it was a cat, but not big enough for a mountain lion. My first thought was bobcat, but apparently there are these things called ringtails as well. Don't know much about them so some more research is required, but at this stage I'm thinking bobcat. It was cool, anyway.

There are heaps of mule deer and elk around, and we saw loads throughout the day, plus lots of interesting birds - many unidentified cute little things, shedloads of very handsome ravens and, at the end of the day, a bunch of ugly turkey vultures riding the thermals up from the canyon. Oh, and innumerable little furry critters - squirrels, chipmunks and maybe even a gopher.

But the only thing I managed to get a photo of was this, sauntering across the path.

Research required to formally identify her, but some kind of tarantula, I think.

This has been a great day, finding out about the formation and geology of such an iconic place. I have kept thinking about the inevitable and oft mentioned comparisons with the Blue Mountains back in NSW, and have been trying to work out in my mind whether they are realistic or not. There are undoubted similarities, places here which could easily be there, and away from the canyon the trees - mainly ponderosa and piñon pines, and Utah juniper - have that similar silvery dark green. When I tried to imagine either Grand Canyon with trees or Blue Mountains without I couldn't help feeling they'd look pretty similar to each other given the same decoration. Grand Canyon might be a bit more intense, or concentrated, as it's basically been formed by the one main river and a number of tributaries. Blue Mountains must cover a much wider area. Again, more research needed.

The other thing that's struck me here, generally in the US but particularly here at Grand Canyon, has been the absence of what (some would call overbearing) public protection. In the Blue Mountains, for example, every pathway and lookout is carefully fenced. Here at Grand Canyon, most lookouts have minimal fencing if any, and we regularly found ourselves on trails right at the edge of unfenced 1,000-foot-plus sheer drops. It has been quite refreshing but, with the kids in tow, also rather nerve-racking! This photo doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea - nothing between the rough, rocky trail and The Abyss (that's what the lookout is called).

Having walked a long way today we hit our next campsite exhausted and rather short of supplies. Ten-X Campground, south of GC Village, was pretty much deserted when we arrived after dark, so a bit spooky. Ruth cobbled together a marvellous dinner while the boys and I collected firewood in the form of hundreds of pinecones, then we ate next to our intense but short-lived inferno before hitting the hay.