Why the Grand Canyon is the most beautiful thing I've seen

When we started planning a trip to Las Vegas, I really pushed for an overnight stay at the Grand Canyon. The helicopter seemed super glamorous but I'd read on forums that it landed in an Native American reservation within the national park as the Grand Canyon was sacred ground. I wanted to experience the national park. The West Rim of the Grand Canyon was home to the famous Skywalk but being the travel snob I am I wanted to go to a part that not many people travelling from Vegas make it too. I'd kept reading about the South Rim so I made the executive decision that this was the section I NEEDED to visit. But the only problem was it was a five and a half hour drive from Last Vegas. Luckily my wonderful boyfriend took the load and agreed to be the designated driver.

We picked up our hire car at 7am, after a hairy moment of being stuck in the lift, swung by the very underwhelming Las Vegas sign and began our drive into Arizona. It was pouring with rain when we finally arrived much to our disappointment after a long journey. After checking in at Yavapai Lodge - which I thoroughly recommend as there's nothing better than being based in the park, we decided to brave the torrential rain and go seek out the canyon anyway.

Dripping wet and still in summer clothes, we parked up our car and wandered over to one of the viewpoints. I'd seen numerous amounts of pictures of the Grand Canyon over the years and it's been on my bucket list for what feels like forever. But nothing in the world could prepare me for the view. Even in the rain, it was absolutely stunning. Every single one of us just stared in awe at the sight before us. It was the most incredible sight I had seen. Pictures really don't do it justice at all. In fact looking back at the pictures disappoint me because they just don't convey it's beauty. The sheer size of it is so overwhelming, I don't think I have ever seen anything so big. We didn't stay too long in the rain, instead heading back to the lodge for pizza and an early night in the hope we would have the weather on our side the following day.

We woke up bright and early at 4.45am keen to catch the sun rise over the canyon, after a few minutes drive to Yavapai Point we took our place among the crowds. Despite the disappointment of it being cloudy it really was amazing to see the sun slowly rise. It didn't quite feel real. Once the sun had fully risen, we took a slow wander and the canyon was glowing orange in all its glory. After about an hour staring aimlessly out at the wonder before us we decided to jump back into the car to drive to a few other viewpoints before we heading off back to Vegas. There is actually a shuttle bus which ferries tourists around which I would totally have used if we had longer, the routes sounded fab when I was reading about them.

The great thing about being based inside the National Park was that you could beat the crowds if you had an early start. We drove to quite a few different viewpoints and had them mostly to ourselves. It makes you feel quite insignificant surrounded by such incredible nature. I remember just sitting in awe on a rock staring at something millions of years old. Now I'm home, I've realised it's honestly the best thing I've ever done in my life.

One thing I did notice though was litter - just keep your rubbish to yourself guys! Don't spoil it by throwing away plastic.