I wanted to remember how different the plant life is out here from home in Tennessee, so Dean took these shots for me.
This is one of the ever-present cedars. This one is hanging tenaciously to the edge of the Canyon wall. I guess it gets plenty of sunlight there. These things will grow anywhere they can get a toehold.
The yucca looks the same here as it did back in Georgia. There's just more of it.
That silver-green plant in the middle of the shot is a sage. It's the other predominant plant in the region. It will seemingly grow when nothing else will. Dean told me that if you even brushed up against it, you'd get a whiff of sage. At some point during the day I reached down and rubbed the leaves to feel their texture. WOW, what an odor! I had to make a trek to the visitors center to wash my hands.
And this is one for further research. I don't know what it is, but I sure like the ferny look of the leaves.
And for just a touch of the wildlife flavor here--
There were plenty of lizards here. This little guy ran across the path right in front of us. He's tailless, but I don't think that's natural. Looks like he's the victim of someone (or something) trying to catch him.
There were plenty of squirrels, too, but they moved a little too quickly for us to get a shot.
Our next stop after Yavapai Point was Desert View, on the far eastern end of the South Rim. We had to drive there. Traffic came to a stop on both sides of the road at one point, to let this lady cross the road.
That's an elk cow in the woods, in case you can't make her out. Dean got the shot out the window of the truck. Pretty exciting stuff.
I'll get the pictures from Desert View up later today. They are amazing. The distances you can see from there.......
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