Flagstaff (Grand Canyon) - 5th-7th March

After the relative heat of Phoenix we were back into the cold - odd that you can travel such a small distance and have the temperature change so much.

We'd decided to use Flagstaff as our base for the Grand Canyon so hired a car as the canyon was a 2 hour drive away. So good to have our own wheels again after that damned Greyhound!

Pleasantly surprised by Flagstaff which had real character and was way better than Phoenix - really friendly people as well.

Not sure what we were expecting form the canyon itself, but when we pulled in the car the first morning we were TOTALLY blown away by the amazing view. Took us a while to get our heads around the size of it - certainly the most amazing thing I've seen on the trip so far anyway, absolutely incredible and the photos we got of it just don't do it justice. Our taxi driver on the way to Flagstaff recommended meditating to help take it all in - didn't do it, but you can see if you had more time it'd be great to do there.

Initially decided to head a bit into the canyon itself rather than just sticking to the rim trails as we had good weather. Did the South Kaibob Trail which gave us jaw-dropping views and was pretty steep. Pretty icy at the top of the trail, but we eschewed crampons and just got on with it (we're British you know). Pleased we didn't do the mule trip as going down the trail on one of them would have been daunting to say the least. We saw a fair few people with camping equipment who were heading for the bottom to set up for the night.

The canyon was so deep we didn't even see the Colorado River on this trek, but we jumped on one of the free shuttle buses later in the day and did a few more look-out points and finally saw it. Some people were even rafting in it - they must have been absolutely insane, though not as insane as some people on the bus in shorts and t-shirts!

Woke up to grey skies the next day, but headed for the Canyon again and did one of the most popular treks - the Bright Angel Trail. Still quiet on the way down as out of season which was great. This place must be so busy in the summer and with the 40 degree temperatures I'd imagine my patience may wear a little thin...

Started to rain as we got to our planned halfway point so we headed back up the steep path and it turned to hail then snow at the top. Pretty glad we managed to get back in the car before it got too bad although a bit gutted that the cloud spoiled some of the views.

We'd planned on heading to Sedona (just south of Flagstaff) in the late afternoon to check out the mystical red rocks and vortexes, but the weather had different ideas. The snow started to get pretty heavy on the drive back and we saw a few cars had skidded off the roads. Decided to play it safe and drop the car off early so we didn't get stuck anywhere. Next trip maybe...

Woke up on our birthday to great weather and headed to the Harvesteresque 'Olive Garden' for a birthday treat. Not bad for the price (and free salad, wow).

Second half of the day was spent on a Greyhound to Albuquerque which was a bit less enjoyable. Particularly as we couldn't sit together and the bus was full of the usual filth of society and late as always - arrrrgghhh! Topped off by the bloke next to me who should seriously see a doctor about his bodily emissions.