Just walk the whole way. Americans need to walk more and it reduces emissions. Walking is the responsible, safe and romantic way to go.
Did you realize that the Canyon on AZ side will be very cold and if you don t have reservation you could be SOL. It is a long day drive from Vegas. You can fly/copter to Canyon for the day. Not that much to do this time of year than a day trip. Also there are day bus tours to Canyon from Strip.
If you had a month vacation? Your plan would be fun! But for only a week? My advise is to fly to Vegas then take a helecopter to the Grand Canyon. But you don t want to spend the whole week driving in the desert? Enjoy Vegas! L.A. is only 45 minutes away. Have fun whatever you decide to do! A week goes by quick. Red Rock canyon is closer to see? Pretty nice too. Especially at sunset!
HmmmYou want to take a one way SFO LAS flight and then do a return -to -a -different -location car rental ? That is going to be super expensiveYour best bet is to get two round trips from SFO to LAS and then renting a big CAR with a V-6 and doing this loop drive for a weekPop this routing into mapquest or whatever.LAS GCN Cameron AZ Mexican Hat UT Cortez CO Telluride CO La Salle Junction UT Moab UT Hanksville UT Torrey UT Escalante UT Mount Carmel Junction UT LAS and then do DV as a day trip from LASJust so you know :Below the Rim day trips in GCNP can be physically challenging b/c in the first hour or so you will lose between 1200-1500 vertical feet which you will then have to get back on the way out .,If the weather turns to junk then the uphill hike can really get your attentionAll trails tend to be snowy and icy on the upper stretches and some trails like the Grandview down to Horseshoe Mesa can be down right dangerous in winter Leave this Q open and I ll add some details if need be....Lemme know