Grand Canyon, AZ

I did two mountain bike rides here.  My take-away message (to myself) is:  stick to hiking at the Grand Canyon.  I mean, how do you top that?  I used the book "Biking the Grand Canyon Area" for my guide.

The first ride I did was the Vishnu Overlook Loop.    First I misread the instructions and ended up on a nature walk--nice for a nature walk but a boring mountain bike ride.

Then I decided to climb the tower:

It had two good consequences:  nice views, and I discovered the real mountain-bike trail started just underneath the tower.  Here are some of the nice views:

I had a nice short 1.5 ride on single track, with a nice bench and views at the turn-around point.

A few days later I rode the Tusayan loops.  I should have stuck to loop 1 as it is shorter and I suspect had more single-track.  I did loop 2 because I wanted something longer.  It was about 10 miles long, but not terribly interesting and I was wishing I were at the Grand Canyon seeing the magnificent views.  So scratch that from the plans next time.  But one nice thing is I was all alone and it was peaceful.  You don't get much alone-time at the Grand Canyon.

Here's the start of this trail:

On it's own, it's actually pretty and nice and there are some fun spots.  I think the shorter loop would be better so I can have some fun, but then get to the Grand Canyon to see the great scenes.