I consider myself to be fairly well-traveled — especially within the United States — but, even so, there are a few top-tier destinations that have eluded me for no good reason. The Grand Canyon has been one of those until last month. It had become almost embarrassing to admit that I had never seen it but now I can put those days behind me.

Statistics show that the average visitor spends very little time in the park — like as little as an hour, with maybe only a few minutes at an actual overlook. While I didn’t spend a huge amount of time there either, I did beat the average and actually got to see the canyon from the air, from the perspective a trail, and I photographed both a sunset and sunrise from the rim. Not bad for a first visit, but I’d happily return for much, much more. I feel I barely scratched the surface, and that is probably an overstatement.

Sunset:

Sunrise: