This October, we took a trip up to the Grand Canyon. We stayed at the Mather Camp ground on the South Rim. So far, this is the best place we have ever camped and the most family friendly area. While we are technically not "roughing it" in the wild, camping with a family of 6 is pretty crazy! We are lucky to have a 21ft toy hauler trailer, although a little small for our big family, it does the job! The camp ground has bathrooms, a dishwashing station and plenty of wildlife that are used to people. While sitting around the camp fire, there were a lot of little birds that landed on us looking for something to eat. Although there are signs everywhere asking campers not to feed the wildlife, I couldn't help myself and gathered up some breadcrumbs. The birds were quick to land on our toes, fingers, legs and even Katie's butt! She was lounging on the cot and the bird was checking her out for snacks..
The birds definitely added a great twist to what the kids thought was an initially boring start to the trip. Once the birds got their attention, it was on for a search of more animals. I have to mention that the birdwatching/feeding provided plenty of quiet time for the parents. The kids knew they had to be still and quiet in order to get the birds to land on them. A few hours later, they were still wanting to feed the birds. We took a break and went for a quick walk to the bathrooms, on our return we heard a noise that sounded like an Elk. Well, we were correct, as we walked towards our camp, we noticed other campers walking towards the area we heard the sound. We were lucky enough to see a male buck trying to win the heart of a female elk.
Every evening, the Elk returned to the camp. The buggling was an awesome unique sound that gave us chills. The kids were able to walk pretty close to the heard and we took some great pictures.
The following day, we took the kids to the Rim in order for them to get a peak at the Grand Canyon, a first for Emily and pretty much Jacob too as he had not been back to the Canyon since he was an infant.
Emily's reaction was priceless, all she could say it was AMAZING! Jacob said the Canyon looked fake, but he loved it. We walked around for a little bit and met a new friend along the way
This is Forest and he loves everyone- that has food! This little guy was not shy and even looked through our pockets for snacks. We must have played with him for an hour, he crawled up on my lap and even let us pet him. After he jumped on a guys leg, we ended play time. No worries, he didnt bite the guy, he heard rustling of a bag and assumed it was food and went in for the grab!
All and all, we had a great day and took in some beautiful sites:
After a wonderful day, we went back to camp, enjoyed some braut burgers, smores and hot cocoa. We went to bed early in order to prepare for a very long day ahead of us!
Really early the very next day, we all got up, packed our lunches, double checked our gear and of course made some fresh coffee, snacked on home made muffins and headed for Grandview Trail. Along the way we were blessed to see the sunrise over the Canyon- breathtaking! After about 20 minutes, we reached our destination and prepared for a very long hike!
