Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon
We did not want to miss out on some spectacular view at the Grand Canyon and so we decided to rent another car and take the rental together with the bicycle car up to the North of Arizona. We from locals, there is a nice mountain bike trail around the canyon, named “Rainbow-Rim-Trail”. If you know the Grand Canyon from its touristic side, you should definitely do this insider trip. It is within the Park boundary, but you are far away from any Fee Station and huge tour busses. 
For you next trip, here are the quick directions: Follow the road to the north rim. Shortly before you enter the Park Boundary and the Ranger Station, turn right on Forest road 22 (It says Viewpoints on a marker). From there you have another 25 miles on a gravel road which will take around one hour. Stay on this road for about 12 miles until you come to another intersection and turn left on forest road 206. Stay on this road for another 5 miles and turn right on forest road 214. This will take you to the edge of the Canyon and also to the trailhead at Parissawampitts Point. A ranger told us about a certain type of rock, which cuts car tires open very often. We took it easy on the road and did not have any trouble. Although it says high-clearance car suggested we did it in a Ford Fusion rental car, which was just fine. Make sure, you bring a map, because there are way more gravel roads then you might think and it is like a maze without the right map.
At the trailhead we found many places, where it’s possible to camp for free and built up small campfires. There aren’t any fire pits or picnic tables there, only the rings of stones people made to build a fire. Make sure to bring enough food and water since you won’t find any there. From the trailhead you have roughly 25 miles in nice trails which follow the Canyon and guarantee you the coolest views without all these annoying tourists, enjoy!
For the second day we decided to go on a tour to the less known antelope Canyon. This is Native American Territory and they have the privileges to give you a tour in this canyon. For the last 20 years the Canyon is closed for private explorations mainly because of the facts that people went there also during extreme floods and drowned and to prevent people of scratching letters in the weak sandstone which would ruin this place. From Page it’s a 20min drive in a four wheel drive pickup truck. The last part is through the old riverbed, where the Canyon flows out. We visited the “Upper Antelope Canyon” which is the more famous one. The Canyon itself is rather short but it is really a beautiful place to be. When the sun hits the rocks, they glow in all various kinds of colors from deep orange to red and brown. Is it worth the 2h drive from the Grand Canyon? Definitely!
The last few days we spent in Arizona for some mountain biking with our friends. They have the mountain bike trails directly behind their house, which we found really cool. In this area the most important is not to crash in a cactus and stay on the trail. The landscape is filled with little cacti up to 5 feet but also with the gigantic Saguaro Cactus, which grow as tall as 25ft. With a sad but also happy feeling about finally going home, we leave this amazing place in the desert and take the flight back to Germany.