Grand Canyon Photos - Our Favourites

Here are just a few of our favourite pictures from our few days at the Grand Canyon. Dont forget to click them to make them full size..

1) Weemans Panoramic of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim

2) Looking down from off the South Kaibab Trail

3) Mid way down the canyon

4) After the storm.. Rainbow in the Grand Canyon

5) Never thought a toilet block could make a good picture!

6) Psychs being a crazy nutter.. again.. that was a long way down!!

You can check out more pics like this in our

Extreme Global Balancing Blog

Hope you enjoyed looking at some of our Grand Canyon pictures.. Feel free to use them, just give us a mention if you do.. thats all we ask..

En Route from Death Valley to Las Vegas 2006

An awesome sunset en route to Vegas

It was late afternoon when we departed from Death Valley. None of us wanted to leave, the place was freakin awesome. With the euphoric tunes on, we kicked in the cruise control and headed off into the sunset. Psychs, in one of his mentalistic moods decided to lean out the window of the Jeep and take some breathtaking footage of the mountains along the way backlit by one of the most impressive sunsets ever.. .... then all of a sudden...... the sky just turned black, day had become night and we were on our way to Vegas for a proper mad'n!

After a short drive of a couple of hours we reached the city limits and could see the legendary beam of light from the top of the Luxor Pyramid Casino, our resting place for the next few days... It was very strange to enter a big city after all we had been in the wilderness for just over 2 weeks with hardly any contact with civilization. I think it was quite creepy in a way for all of us but we had to do it, if only to have a bath... god we reaked... This is just one of the many reasons the active brits posse likes to get away from it all once in a while.. its important to explore every angle of ya life instead of living a cybernetic 9-5 boring existence... It sounds crazy, but we were going to miss cooking on a single camp stove, sleeping on a thin thermorest, crapping in a drop toilet, hiking in the wilderness, considering bears and other critters and staying unclean for a week.. its so hard to get a true wilderness experience in the UK, although our National Parks are totally amazing.

The entrance to the Luxor Casino

We entered Las Vegas and it hit us with a massive welcome. To get to the Luxor we decided to cruise ‘The Strip’ and that was an experience I will never forget. It was complete madness! Made London look tame. There were turns after turns, mental traffic lights, flashing signs that confuse the senses and it appears to be a complete free-for-all although I am sure that there must be rules somewhere. After about 4 miles, we had to turn left to get to the Luxor, easier said than done in Vegas, especially near the weekend when half the population is out on a mission to lose the weeks wages, pull a few ladies of the night or just get down and boogie. We had no choice but to go into mad englishman mode, much to the panic of the others, and swerve across every lane in a true active brits agressive stylee – telling ya, it was a close one! Psychs and i dropped Weeman and Rico off near to the check-in entrance while we decided to brave the traffic once more, play chicken and go and drop off the hire car. Suddenly the place was gridlocked.. a plane had overshot the runway, gone through a perimeter fence and was parked on the pavement next to the airport.. what an adrenalin rush that must have been.. luckily no-one was hurt..

Vegas skyline

We got to the room and the first thing to do was to clean up then get some grub.. You dont half take showers for granted, I got into the shower and the water was running brown. It took 3 washes to get my hair clean and a massive body wash that made the water run like the Colorado River, what a shower, best ever... The room was amazing and the view from the balcony above the reception and gambling area just totally freaky.. slot machines all over the shop.. freakin thousands of them. On the way to the restaurant, we passed 100's of people literally sitting there frozen in a state of gambling limbo, little old ladies putting in $100 at a time into the slots, hardcore ganster looking dudes betting with $1000's and $1000's.. It was surreal... really made us all appreciate our few weeks of wilderness experience..... it was going to be a crazy few days with some manic nights out...

Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park 2006

When we arrived at Kings Canyon it was basically deserted. The main tourist season had ended and all that reamained were a few die hard travellers, notably in expensive RV's. We decided to stay at Porcupine Flats campground, nestled amidst pines and scrub at the base of the valley adjacent to rattlesnake Creek. Like the majority of sites we had stayed at during our trip, each pitch had its own 'anti-bear' storage unit to house all food and fragrant items. You would be surprised by some of the bear stories you hear and read about, doors getting ripped straight off their hinges, glass being removed and tents ripped to pieces. As you travel through the parks you constantly hear the phrase 'a fed bear is a dead bear' or a 'fed cougar is a dead tourist' so you try to do your best to preserve the 'natural' and reduce the contact between man and wild animal.


We only planned to spend a couple of nights in Kings Canyon so after a quick look at the guide books etc, we decided to do a short but stunning hike which and went on the Hotel Creek Trail via the Lewis Canyon Trail. We got to the trail head and there were notices warning us of the following: Mountain Lions; Bears; Rattlesnakes and Fires!

After a couple of miles of winding singletrack, we reached the first viewpoint and could see some controlled fires in the distance on the other side of the valley. It was time to sit and take in the amazing yet hazy view. Psychs decided he would climb down the cliff edge and go on the hunt for rattle snakes while i weighed up the options for some global balancing on a nearby boulder that jutted out from the edge. After the obligitory pictures we set off again once again further into the forest, it was amazing, like something off the Blair Witch Project. Not a single person about, almost deathly silence. It was fantastic. We jsut dont get those moments very often in the UK. You almost felt like someone or something was watching your every move.... maybe they were!!


En route to Sequoia, we stopped off at several viepoints to look for some great photo opportunies. Adjacent to one carpark psychs spotted a narrow 30ft long ridge that headed to a small pinnancle and... yes you've guessed it.. an opportunity for a serious bit of global balancing. The rock was also quite crumbly so we gave the ground a good check over before making the move to the edge. It was awesome, the view was outstanding and the drop on 3 sides must have been close to 1000ft.

From Kings Canyon, we made our way to Sequoia National Park. God those trees are freaking enormous and are estimated to be about 2,000+ years old in some cases. It was a momentous experience, being around some of the oldest living things on the face of the earth. Definately worth a visit, makes you really appreciate life.

A day in Zion NP with the Active Brits Crew - Sept 2006

From the Grand Canyon we headed to Zion National Park. It was a fairly short painless drive given the lack of corners, traffic and length of roads. The roads in the states are truly amazing, just stick the motor into cruise control, sit back, bring out the food and just stare at the scenery. Its almost like being in a mobile cinema. The stateside adventure had only just begun for us, so we were still on on a proper high and enjoying every minute of the place.

On the approach to Zion NP, Psychs decided that he would get some great video footage by leaning out of the Jeeps window while the rest of just slammed around in our seats to some quality house tunage that was banging from the speakers. We think we might have shocked a few locals and tourists alike with our music choice, but we were so psyched up with the whole experience we just wanted our moods to be continually lifted and for every second to count (plus the fact the radio stations seemed to be playing alot of country and western and 80's rock).

We woke up to a glorious morning in Zion, there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun cast a beautiful warm glow on the cliffs adjacent to the campground. After breakfast we set off on a hike up Zion Valley following the course of the river. The views of the peaks along the way were of total contrast to the Grand Canyon but they were just as epic. It was soon time for a spot of lunch and we found a great secluded spot where we could both chill for half an hour and have a dip in the ice cold water to try and put some feeling back in the legs that had taken a bit of a battering from the hiking in the Grand Canyon.

We just wanted to stay there all day but its not in our nature to relax. We'd pushed ourselves so hard since arriving in the states and we were determined to continue this ritual for the next 2 weeks, non stop, all the time. We decided to continue the hike up the valley without using the shuttle buses provided by the National Park, you can see so much more when you walk as well as giving yourself a fitness boost. We took some fantastic photos along the way and arrived at the famous Zion lodge in the early afternoon were we decided to join the rest of the tourist masses, have an ice cream and and just sit on the grass for 10 minutes looking at the majestic cliffs rising from all corners.



From the lodge, we headed to the trailhead of ‘Angels Landing’ a relatively small peak with an altitude of 5990ft. Weeman and Psychs had done this before on a previous visit to the States so they continued to hike up the valley to check out the climbing scene for a future visit. Rico and I decent to perform a speed ascent to the summit. We started at 16:50 and reached the top at 17:40. On the way we passed fantastic rock formations and layer upon layer of sandstone. The final push to the top involved walking on a ledge with a 1m clearance either side and then using chains to help you get to the top. The chains are there as a hand rail to help prevent you from falling to your death. We couldn’t believe the view from the top. This was truly one of the most amazing scenes on the planet, it was spectacular. After a quick swig of water, we decided to dig deep, tap into our limited energy resources and run down to the bottom in true active brits style. We and made it to the trail head at 18:48, a total of 1 hr 58 mins.


Back at the site, Psychs and Weeman said that they had seen some climbers on a rock face setting up their sleeping bags for the night. It sounded like they were having one hell of a quality experience. While the pasta was on the boil myself and Rico headed to the local village shop to pick up some beers in preparation for a quality night of banter and daily reflection. Thats the great thing with Zion, you a fast flowing refigerator right on your doorstep to chill those beers, not that they lasted very long. As the sun went down Rico was attacked by a low flying Praying Mantis which settled on his leg. It was an absolutely fantastic insect and we think he made a friend for life.



In the very early hours of the morning we were woken up to the clap of thunder, lots and lots of thunder, and it was getting closer by the second. We got to the stage where you saw the flash, counted till 2 and then heard this awesome boom... That could only have been one to two miles away. It was truly absolutely mental. All of a sudden the rains came, not just a bit of rain but full on mentalistic heavy crap which could flatten a tent in seconds. It was outstanding and such a buzz. Would the tents leak? Collapse? Not a chance we were as snug as a bug in a rug.. My only thought was for the climbers who had attached themselves to the rock for the night. I hope that they decided enough was enough and made a rapid decent when they heard the thunder.

By morning it was calm and a level of normality had returned to the site, together with the beautiful warm temperatures, so we packed up the Jeep and prepared to continue our mission to Great Basin NP.

Zion NP is a must for any SW stateside visit. Its only a few hours from Vegas, it has a quality little village where you can stock up on supplies, a really modern visitor centre and awesome campgrounds. Most of all the cliff faces and hikes will blow you away and if you can, just make sure you get off that damn shuttle bus once in a while. If you are disappointed by the place then you seriously need to get a life.. its freakin awesome..

Grand Canyon Hike - September 2006

Now I know this is February 2007 but I have been really busy away on courses since the beginning of January learning the wonders of blood and how to search for it. I have been looking through the travel stories and saw that there was no mention of The Grand Canyon which was our first destination of our 2006 US Tour.

Psycho and Weeman had been there before but this was a first for Rico and I. We got to the campsite in the dead of night and naturally I needed the sleep. The others went off to the South Rim to have a look at the canyon by moonlight, luckily they didnt fall in!

I knew that the Grand Canyon was big but I didnt realise that it would be so vast. There is not one TV programme on the planet that can prepare you for that!! We went on a hike down the Bright Angel Trail to the Colorado River and then up the Kaibab Trail back to the South Rim. We filled our 3 litre Camel Backs up and also carried an extra 2 1.5 litre bottles each. We left at 08:50 and got to the Colorado River at 11:30. The reason it took so long was because we were stuck behind a load of mules being made to take lazy people down to Indian Gardens plus we had to constantly wait for Rico who seemed to be taking a photo every two seconds. Whilst going down we saw a large number of people in trainers, why do you do it?? It takes one tiny rock to make you trip and you could so easily do your ankle in. At least with hiking boots you reduce that risk. Plus there was one idiot with a tiny drinking bottle, mate if you want to kill yourself then that is the way to do it. This place is hot and isolated, there are some taps but you cant assume that these are going to work. Dehydration and heat stroke are not the things that you want to be getting in a place like this, the lizards and snakes appear as though they are very hungry!!

The temperature next to the Colorado river was amazing. Check out the watch in the picture, it shows 53degrees C (this was in the direct sun though) I managed to find a small branch to get some shade and the watch said 41degrees C. It was hottttttttttt....

After a short rest bite and the obligitory 'feet' dip in the Colorado, we headed to a little oasis by the river about 1km from Phantom Ranch. En route we crossed a cool suspension foot bridge and was greeted with some quality banter by a few lasses on a rafting trip, really made our day. The bottom of the canyon is amazing, a full on step back to the time of creation. Now one of wanted to leave. We just wanted to live there forever and get crisp in the arid head, it was amazing. After about 15mins break, we were fully revatalised and refreshed, so we plodded ever onwards up the South Kaibab Trail.

The hike out was excellent. Its fairly steep but the swichbacks make the going really easy which in turn enabled us to develop a cracking rhythm. The only problem was the fumes from the horses (and notably the poo) which seemed to absorb every oxygen molocule within the vicinity. We just kept going and going and going, taking the odd breather to soak in the awe inspiring views and to cool off in a rain/thunderstorm that was whipping through the canyon. Before we knew it the job was done and it was time to head back to the village for a chilled Powerade and an ice-cream..

Great day, good hike and views to die for. Its a must for anyone visiting the canyon (but please consider all the factors before you attempt to do it in 1 day).