Grand Canyon adventures
We recently went to the Grand Canyon on vacation at the end of May – beginning of June of 2009 and thought it would be helpful to recommend the places/services that we thought had great “bang for your buck” and/or wonderful customer service.
We went to and stayed at the North Rim as we have heard from so many people (before the trip) that the South Rim is utter “tourist hell”, which is not the experience we want on our vacations (maybe that has something to do with living in a tourist destination ourselves). We continued to hear from people while on vacation that the South Rim has nothing to offer over the North Rim.
Jacob Lake Inn is located about 45 miles from the rim itself and delivers both great customer service and value for your dollar. The cabin we stayed in was not the best in the world, but was certainly clean enough, comfortable, and functional and gave what we would consider bang for your buck as it was moderately priced ($95/night). The friendliness and helpfulness shown to us by the staff there was a high point in our stay. Not only were they helpful and friendly, but the food was VERY good and their homemade breads and cookies were to die for. We tried to stay at the lodging right at the rim, but it was already full. While the drive into points of the park were upwards of 1.5hrs from the lodge, we think staying where we did was worth it. We highly recommend Jacob Lake Inn to anyone wanting to visit the North Rim.
A few days of our vacation we spent in a town called Page, AZ seeing what’s called “slot canyons” and Horseshoe Bend. We were very impressed with the town of Page as it had some local mom and pop shops, fast food places, and even a Wal-Mart. The Glen Canyon Dam put Page on the map initially, but it’s friendliness and sites have made it a valid stop along the way to other destinations.
We decided to go on a photo tour of using the services of “Antelope Canyon Tours by Roger Ekis“. Antelope Canyon has some of the best slots for photography, especially at certain times of the day. For the money that we both spent for the tour, it left quite a bit to be desired. We thought that we would be able to be the only ones in the canyon as we paid more for the photography tour. But no, we were in the canyon with all the regular tours at the same time. Imagine a very confined place with lots of people milling about as we are trying to get photographs with tripods. There were about 11 of in our tour and all I can say is thank goodness that Rob and I were both taking pictures as I know I wasn’t getting the shots I wanted. Also, the way our tour guide drove the truck we were all loaded into the back of had me white knuckling the railing the whole time. I kid you not it felt like that truck was going to topple right over as he sped around the corners. The canyon was beautiful and worth the trip, but I would not have paid extra for the photography tour as it was more frustrating than anything.
After that experience, we looked around Page that afternoon and found a Hummer tour that took people to another slot canyon. We stopped in and asked about it, deciding to go ahead and book a morning tour. We personally did not care about going out in a Hummer, but I have to say, that was actually a highlight of the experience. Jathan from Slot Canyon Hummer Adventures was our tour guide/driver and between his great, easy-going personality and local knowledge of the area, we learned so much. And the experience of doing some rock climbing in the Hummer on our way to and from the slot canyon made the whole experience SO much more relaxing and enjoyable than the other tour we did. We got some great pictures and could really relax and enjoy the experience as opposed to battling people, dust, and small spaces like we did at Antelope Canyon. We did the 3 hour tour and we definitely feel that this experience gave us the bang for your buck that the other photo tour did not.
Some of the sites that we would recommend while at the Grand Canyon were Point Imperial and Cape Royal as well as some other points that the staff at Jacob Lake Inn can tell you about (ask about Monument Point) as there are many other lookouts that are only accessible by dirt roads in the National Forest right outside the park.
