Out here water is the author.

Carving a gorge so immense you can literally see the past carved into the rocks.

UNESCO called this one of the most spectacular gorges in the world, and it is protected as a World Heritage Site as well as a national park, protecting millions of years of geologic history and thousands of years of human history.

It's one of my favorite national parks.

But we're not just here to explore Grand Canyon National Park.

I'm also here to take you to a very special place Havasupai, known to be one of America's most beautiful waterfalls.

But I couldn't go waterfall chasing without first showing you what this canyon and this national park are all about.

I'm Alice Ford, and we're back in Northern Norway.

This is the Garden Island, Kauai, Hawaii.

As you guys can see, it is absolutely beautiful down here.

The views are just already stunning.

And we are on our way to Antarctica.

So right now we're having a traditional tea here.

Wow.

The Grand Canyon, is well, It's huge.

Well named I think for sure it's 1.2 million acres.

And that's just the national park.

The Grand Canyon itself expands even farther than that.

Running through it is the Colorado River, which formed this canyon millions of years ago and is still forming it to this day.

Now, if you're coming here, you can visit here along the South Rim, but you can also visit the North Rim.

And there are a plentitude of adventure activities for you.

Whether you want to hike, go down into the canyon on a mule, head to the skies in a helicopter, or take to the river and a raft.

Now, the first order of business for me, because I'm here just for a mere moment, is stretching my legs and getting them ready for what's to come tomorrow.

This is the Bright Angel trail.

If I was doing the Grand Canyon rim to rim.

This is where I would begin and head down all the way to the bottom where the Colorado River is.

That trail is 24 some-odd miles, so it's not in the cards today.

It certainly is on my bucket list, and I will be back to do it at a different time.

But for now, I wanted to just take you a couple miles down this trail and show you what it's actually like when you step off that rim and head down into the canyon itself.

Bright Angel is one of the Grand Canyon's most famous trails, but its story goes back long before the national park.

This route follows a path used by indigenous people and later by miners, mule packers and some of the canyon's earliest tourists.

Today, it's still one of the main corridor trails below the rim, wide and well-maintained, but definitely not easy.

Mule trips often share this route, and every mile down still has to be climbed back out.

Decades ago, they carved some tunnels to create this trail, and they're one of the coolest features.

Now, one way down to the Colorado River on this trail is 7.8 miles.

That takes you just down to the bottom of the canyon.

According to the Park Service records, I just passed a sign that says it's not recommended that you do this hike in one day.

I'm here in the shoulder season.

So, as you may have guessed, by the way, I've been dressing, the temperature here is a little bit cooler than in other seasons, and the weather can change drastically, whether that's summer, spring, fall, and especially in the winter.

So it's really important that you're prepared, and especially if you're doing this hike or any of the hikes down to the canyon, you need to bring way more water than you think you need.

You need to check the trail conditions as well, because right now, for instance, some of the trails down in the canyon are closed.

The water is turned off.

So if you don't have all the water that you need on your person, you are going to be in dire straits.

When you get to a certain point here on the trail.

So self-sufficiency is super important.

Sun protection also super important.

Heat stroke is very common here in the Grand Canyon and leads to many deaths every single year.

So preparation is key when coming here.

If you're planning on doing any of the hikes off the rim.

Most visitors stay on the rim and that's completely valid.

The viewpoints alone are world class, but if you want to take a few steps below the rim, choose an out and back.

You can finish completely in daylight and carry more water than you think you'll need.

One of the most iconic ways people have traveled into this landscape is by mule.

Grand Canyon mule rides have been offered since 1887, and more than 600,000 people have taken them since the early days.

The trail I'm taking now is one of the most popular trails for mules to also be sharing the trail with, so watch your step.

All right.

We're going through another tunnel.

I must say this trail is absolutely gorgeous.

The views.

Are just phenomenal.

You can see the trail winding down and down and down into the canyon here.

And even from here, I still can't even see the river.

It is still miles and miles away.

Right now.

It's easy breezy walking down this, but eventually I will have to turn around.

And that's where the real effort is going to begin.

Now, tomorrow's trail and Havasupai also a top down trail and it is very long 11 to 12 miles each way.

So similar in length to the rim to rim.

Walking down into the Grand Canyon is a lesson in scale, time and survival.

The deeper I go, the hotter it gets.

Here temperatures can climb about five and a half degrees for every thousand feet of elevation lost, which means a comfortable start at the rim can quickly become something else entirely below.

Surrounded by cliffs that make me feel impossibly small, I'm moving through millions upon millions of years of Earth's history.

These rocks preserve an extraordinary fossil record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, though you won't find dinosaur fossils here because the canyon's exposed layers are older than dinosaurs themselves.

And for all that is known about this place, so much remains unseen.

The park contains more than a thousand caves, but only a fraction have ever been documented.

Proof that this canyon still keeps some of its secrets.

Wow, it is just gorgeous down here.

The views into the canyon are just spectacular, and I can just see how this trail winds down and down to further, down to the river.

You can't even see the river from here.

There's still so many miles down.

Look at this view.

Incredible.

I've just passed the one and a half mile rest stop here on the trail, and this is getting to be my turnaround point as well.

How spectacular.

I am back in Grand Canyon Village.

That is where the Bright Angel trail begins.

And here you will find a plethora of things, from restaurants and hotels to museums and art galleries and also spectacular views down into the canyon.

I'm going to grab a snack, and then I'm gonna hop on the bus and take you to a few more places here in the park.

For most of the year, if you are wanting to access Grand Canyon views west of Grand Canyon Village, you have to get on the shuttle.

This road, which is right here.

This is actually closed to passenger vehicles, most of the year.

So only in December, January, February.

Can you drive this the rest of the year.

It's just the hop on, hop off bus, which is actually free to all visitors to the Grand Canyon.

So that's it.

I'm going to hop on right now and take you to see some of these other views in the park.

First stop, Powell Point Spectacular 360 degree view here.

Also, fun fact there used to actually be a huge structure on this hillside where a uranium mine once stood all the way up into the 1970s.

It was actually the biggest producing uranium mine, I believe in America, obviously now it's no longer there, which is nice, but this is definitely one spot you should hop off the bus and take in the view.

So this point was named after a guy named John Wesley Powell.

He was the first American to successfully navigate the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon on a rowboat with some other guys, so they've named this after him.

I don't think the first expedition went very well.

So a couple of years later, they tried it again.

A couple people didn't make it back because they tried to leave early and walk out of the Grand Canyon and were never heard from again.

So some really interesting history here.

And, one of the things that I love so much about exploring and traveling is just learning about the different people that came before us, and especially here in the Grand Canyon.

There are a lot of human historical facts.

11 federally recognized tribes still live within and around the Grand Canyon National Park.

People that have had their history go back millennia here on this canyon, living in harmony with the Colorado River for many, many years.

So if we're newbies here, as Americans, also, the oldest human remains ever found in America were found right here in the Grand Canyon.

Walked on over to the next viewpoint.

And this is the first time I can actually see the Colorado River very far away from here.

It is muddy and brown.

I got off at the second to last stop here.

The road ends at a place called the Hermit's Rest.

I'm going to walk along the rim to get there, and then I'll head back on the bus, to the village where I began.

Then I have one more thing planned for us before I head back in the car and head to our next adventure.

The sunrise and sunset are ideally some of the best times to come and see this park.

When the light is changing throughout this canyon.

And in order to do that, I highly recommend spending the night.

There are some really beautiful iconic hotels here along the rim, like El Tovar Lodge, which you can see behind my shoulder, and the Bright Angel Lodge.

There's also other hotels tucked in to the forest and plenty of places to eat and drink as.

I've been dreaming of doing this hike for as long as I can remember.

We're on the Havasupai Native American Reservation to go to Havasu Falls.

This is a place that I have looked at photos of for as long as I can remember, because my dad went here in 1978, and he had photos of him and his friends bathing and Beaver Falls and Havasu Falls, all over our bathroom.

So it's a place that is really special to me and my family.

And I know my dad will be down there waiting for me.

This is a special place.

Not just for me, but also for the Havasupai people.

And it's been a place that they have come to for over a thousand years.

The trail down is about ten miles, and it's steep, but it's a top down trail, so it's going to be easy peasy.

Going down and hard going back up.

I cannot wait to see this beautiful place that I have dreamt of for so many years.

This hike lies right at the southern end of Grand Canyon National Park.

It is, however, not in the national park itself.

It is within the Havasupai reservation lands and managed entirely by them.

But you still have these striking features from the Grand Canyon that we can see as we hike down into the water.

As I make my way towards Supai Village, I'm heading into the homeland of the Havasupai, the people of the blue green waters.

Their name comes from the vivid blue green creek that has sustained life here for generations, creating this incredible oasis in the middle of the canyon.

There are no roads into the village, so everyone who comes here arrives the hard way by foot, by mule, or by helicopter.

I was pretty surprised when I got to the parking lot to see so many cars.

I thought that on Thanksgiving and at the end of the season, when temperatures maybe in the low of around 30 at the bottom tonight, that this probably wasn't going to be that crowded, but the parking lot was actually full.

Now, in order to do this hike, you do have to get a permit.

And during their normal lottery season, those can be pretty hard to get there.

Around $500 per person.

So not cheap, but pretty much any time of year.

You can go on their cancellation and transfer list and usually find a permit.

They have group sizes of 4 to 1.

I was really lucky and grabbed a one person permit on that cancellation list, just a few days ago, so definitely possible to still come and do this amazing hike, even if you can't get, reservation during their normal lottery Wow.

It is so beautiful.

The canyon is just opening up right here.

I'll show you.

Look at that.

Wow.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Now, I've been to the Grand Canyon a few times, and while we're technically not in the national park, this is still part of the Grand Canyon.

But I've never been down on the floor of the canyon, so this is my first time just walking among it.

And its just so peaceful down here.

Even though the parking lot was full, you still have all these moments completely alone down here.

One of my favorite things about hiking is just having time to think, and having time to take in the scenery without anyone else's opinions.

So I am doing this hike today solo, as you may have noticed, and, I think it's really important for all of us, no matter our age, to get out and just be with ourselves in our own thoughts.

No music, no podcasts, just you and your surroundings.

Up, up up up.

Wow.

Millions of years of erosion.

Wow.

So cool.

I love it when the trail comes up on the side of the ridge like this, I can look down into the wash.

We still have about three hours before the sun goes down, so, we should be able to make it and set up camp before dark.

All right.

We are just entering Supai Village, and we actually can't use cameras or take any photos of the village or any other people out of respect for them.

So I will see you on the other side.

Wow, we are on the ledge now.

The river is down below and it is absolutely beautiful.

Yellow oak trees everywhere and Havasu Falls should be coming right up.

Okay, I know we're losing light.

I'm also not carrying my tent so just fell out of my backpack.

But Havasupai means people of the blue green water.

And this is exactly why now this water is supposed to be 70 degrees all year long.

And we're definitely going to be testing that out tomorrow.

But for now, we need to find a campsite, set up my tent and get everything ready before the sun goes down.

Oh my gosh, it's so pretty.

Holy mackerel.

This is one place where the photos were not as good as the real place.

This is absolutely incredible.

Wow.

I'm blown away.

Wow, that was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.

I'm now entering kind of the campground area.

There's bathrooms here.

There is water, I believe, which should still be filtered.

And I am going to find a campsite, but it's 5:00, so it'll be dark in about 40 minutes.

Okay, so I think I found a spot I went past where most of the campers were, and I actually kept going.

There's a nice little picnic table right here, and I'm going to put my tent in this flat spot over here.

I'm a little far from the bathrooms, but I'll have a bit more privacy, which will be nice.

All right.

Camp is set up, and I'm going to go fill up my water bottles and get some dinner going.

It is now 6:00, and I did 2738 ft of down climb today, which means we're got to do that on the way back out.

Oh my God, it's so warm.

Wow.

It's like a hot spring, It's awesome.

Tonight I am going to make mango sticky rice.

Probably put some tuna in it for protein.

I got a bunch of water.

I did filter it, with my life straw, just in case it came out of the rock.

So it was spring water, but warm, which was surprising.

And you just never know.

I have heard that people have gotten sick from drinking the water here, so you can never be too careful.

So I filtered it, tonight and also filtered, what I put in my water bottle for tomorrow as well.

Since it's quite early 7 p.m., I'm going to tell you a little story about why this place means a lot to me and my family.

The year was 1978.

My mom and dad had just started dating, and we're house sitting up Woody Creek and Aspen ladies big mansion.

My dad got a call from a friend, and the friend asked him if he was free for the next couple of weeks and could get away because he was actually a river guide in the Grand Canyon.

And they were down a man, and they wanted to see if he could work for them for a couple of weeks.

Guiding guests down the Grand Canyon.

My dad jumped at the opportunity, and here he came to the Grand Canyon for several weeks.

They floated down the river.

He made food.

He helped with all the chores and things that went along with that job and fell in love even more in love with the Grand Canyon.

At the end of that trip, he and the fellow guides men came here to Havasu Falls and Beaver Falls and Mooney Falls.

So my entire childhood I looked at these photos of my dad and his friends bathing in waterfalls, and all I knew was that it was the Grand Canyon, but it was right here at Havasu Falls, right up and down this stretch of blue green waters.

And so I heard these tales of adventure my entire childhood about the Grand Canyon, about coming here to the southwest, and how just amazingly beautiful it was.

It was definitely one of my dad's favorite places in the world.

He's no longer with us.

He died about 11 years ago, but I know that he's here with me in spirit today, and I can't wait to go jump in those same waterfalls that him and his friends it swam in more than 40 years ago.

Good morning everyone.

It is 8:00 am.

I've just had breakfast and coffee.

This jacket is very loud on the microphone.

Hence why I'm holding it like this.

From here, I am heading down river about a mile to another waterfall called Mooney Falls this morning.

Past that, there's also another series of cascading pools called Beaver Falls.

That's an eight mile round trip.

So I'm not sure if I'm gonna make that today, because I also want to hike the ten miles back to the car.

But we'll see.

The temperature is way warmer than I expected it to be, and the water is actually very warm, so I think we're gonna have to get in.

Wow.

Looney falls, everyone.

This waterfall is taller than Havasu Falls.

And it is showing off this morning in this early light with the sun just illuminating this waterfall spray.

There's also a rainbow behind us as the sun is just painting the walls of the canyon and light otherworldly.

Let's enjoy this view together.

All right to get to the bottom of Mooney Falls.

There's a section with chains.

And.

Okay, into the caves.

All right.

This is that famous Instagram shot that you see everywhere.

And.

Wow, it is impressive.

Wow.

I mean.

That's what you go down.

What?

This chain ladder section is.

Absolutely insane.

I watch a lot of videos on this.

I was not ready for this.

Well, we've made it to Mooney Falls to the bottom.

There are a ton of people now trying to get down this chain section.

As you can see, it's not that warm.

We're in the shadows here, so it's a little cold in the water temperature.

Does not feel as warm as it did yesterday.

So I don't think I'm going to get in, but I will get in when I get back up to Havasu Falls.

Now, from here, you can continue on, as I said, to Beaver Falls, which is another two, three miles down the trail.

And then also you can continue on to the confluence where the Colorado River meets up with this river.

That would have been the direction my dad actually entered from when he came to this fall and Beaver Falls.

So pretty cool to be here, in a spot my dad was, more than 40 years ago.

Definitely taking in the beauty.

And all there is around me.

It's just a really nice feeling.