This post is way too overdue as it is almost a month since I visited Arizona but I was busy putting together a mini vlog which you’ll find at the end of this post. I made a promise to myself that I will take advantage of my current location and visit more cities on the West Coast, so I decided to reach out to my good friend Marlon who just moved to Scottsdale, AZ. And with that, I didn’t have to spend Thanksgiving week all by myself and we could cross the Grand Canyon off our bucket list together.
Day 1
Marlon and I woke up early to drive to Sedona, which is about a 2-hour drive from Scottsdale. We hiked the Cathedral Rock for about 1-2 hours. The best part of any traveling stories is the chance to meet new people from around the world. We also overheard funny things that strangers say along the hike which make our hike even better. It’s a good thing I was exercising regularly, but that hike was nothing comparing to what I had to hike next at the Grand Canyon.
After our short hike we drove all the way up to Page. We first visited Lake Powell and took some pictures along the way. Next, we drove a little pass Utah to visit the Lone Rock Beach. It was a super cool place considering we were the only 2 humans there with a sole rock in the middle of the beach. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to drop in on one of the Antelope Canyon tours; however, Horseshoe Bend made up for it. Words cannot describe how BEAUTIFUL that place is. It was out of the world beautiful. Although it was crowded with tourists, I was in awe. And I still am.
Day 2
This was a big day for us as it was both our first time visiting the Grand Canyon! We woke up fairly early again to get the day started by driving from Page to the Grand Canyon. One thing I also enjoyed during this trip was the drive around the state. Arizona is quite different from other states that I’ve been to because you can see super far from one town to another since the state is mostly flat. Marlon and I would blast road trip music while staring at beautiful mountains, rocks and cacti. It felt as though we were in a cliche automobile commercial.
The park ranger from the Grand Canyon suggested us to hike the South Kaibab trial down to the Skeleton Point. It was great for a one-day hike. We took his advice and took off from the visitor center. We started our hike at around noon. It took us about 3 hours to hike down to near the Skeleton Point and decided to hike back up before it got dark. Our hike took us about 5 hours to complete. It consisted of us stopping for photos, eating food/snacks we bought beforehand, and slipping and tripping (my poor buttocks and Marlon’s knee suffered a bit). This was undeniably one of the most intense exercises I’ve done. Hiking back up was more challenging than I thought but I’m proud of my legs for staying strong. Shout out to Marlon for carrying my bag at one point because I was so out of breath.
Day 3
It was Thanksgiving Day. Marlon and I planned to cook a not-so-traditional dinner that included steaks. But before we prepared our dinner we took a short trip to Hole-in-the-Rock in Phoenix. Literally as the name says it was a huge rock with a hole in it. There wasn’t much of a sunset and that place was filled with tourist but nonetheless I was glad I could end my trip with some cool rocks and cacti.
I’ve lived in cities all my life; I never thought that looking at mountains and rocks would give me such joy and satisfaction. This trip had taught me to appreciate our planet and nature even more. It had also brought me new perspectives as being in big cities could feel jaded at times. There was no better way to spend my Thanksgiving other than hiking one of the most beautiful places on earth with some good company. I’m already itching to visit the Antelope Canyon next!
P.S. GO CHECK OUT MY VLOG!