These were tenaciously growing along with a snippet of cedar in the middle of the path, from the crevice of a rock. Life will find a way.
Red--my favorites.
These yellow ones seemed to like the sides of the concrete paths. Plenty of sunlight, I think.
We only saw a handful of these.
And we only saw these in one place. Growing out on the rock below.
We'd done a lot of walking by this time, and everybody took a break whenever they could to rest their poor legs. Dean caught this shot just as Kiersten tossed some pebbles.
Here's a close-up of Jeffrey and Christi.
Look great, don't they?
One of the last shots we got from Desert View was toward the west. It shows a tiny bit of the Colorado River at the bottom of the Canyon.
The river is that tiny bit of white at the middle of the shot about a third of the way from the top. Here's a zoom of that area.
The white water is one of more than 100 rapids on the Colorado. We got a better view of this rapid from a different vantage point.
We worked our way back to Mather Point, stopping at each overlook along the way. Here are some of the best shots.
A good view of the Colorado in the bottom of the Canyon. The rocks have good color, too.
This is a closer view. The water of the river is so green because it doesn't carry any silt. All the silt is caught behind Glen Canyon Dam in Lake Powell north of the Grand Canyon. The water that leaves Glen Canyon is 'clean', and appears green.
This is a better view of the rapids I mentioned above.
And a closer view.
And a shot on full zoom.
To try to give you some sense of scale, that rapid is over a mile long, and drops 30 feet over its distance.
Let me take just a second for a side trip. I've been fascinated by the many different kinds of rock you find here. Here are just a few.
I think this last one is my favorite. Look at how many different kinds of smaller rocks are caught in this large bolder. Amazing.
OK, back to good shots of the Canyon.
This last shot is from one of the few overlooks on the South Rim that actually face east. And the distances are truly deceptive. That far wall of the Canyon is actually two very different sets of cliffs. To the right side of the picture the wall is the Grand Canyon, and it's about miles away. On the left side of the picture are the cliff walls bordering the Painted Desert, and is over 43 miles away, far outside the Grand Canyon National Park. The flatland immediately past that is the Painted Desert. So the hills in the far distance must be over 100 miles away. It's a spectacular view. I only wish the pictures could convey more of the essence of the experience.
Another thing that surprised me about our visit to the Canyon was the number of other people there at this time of the year. The place was packed, during the mid-day at least, with every parking space filled, and cars parked along the sides of the road. The real surprise was that over half of these folks were from other countries. Maybe I should have expected that, but I didn't. It was great watching people from all nationalities talking and laughing and marveling together.
A major activity for everyone seemed to be finding good spots for photos. Everybody wanted the best backdrop for their pictures. I had a tendency to leave the beaten path and head for places where I didn't see anybody else. We found some fabulous views of the Canyon that way. And every time, within just a couple of minutes, there would be other people there, waiting for us to finish so they could get their pictures, too.
That's what happened with these photos.
I found a great place for Dean to stand so I could get a side shot, but I had to get the picture from the next little outcrop along the way. There was no one else around when I had him step out there.
Before I could get around to take this picture of him standing in the same spot, he moved to let a couple get their shots from the same spot. There was also another guy waiting in line, but when he saw that we wanted another picture, he told us to go ahead. By the time we got done, there was someone waiting behind him, too. A testimony to the fact that people trust each other to find and share the best, I think. It was great fun.
This is my 'brave' shot.
Note that Purry made it to my pocket. We might have gotten more shots, but I got a case of vertigo and had to step back. Oh, well.....
And this is one of Dean's favorite shots.
That tree is one of the very few we saw in the Canyon, and it chose a perfectly protected spot to grow, right between those two rocks. That's a ponderosa pine, and it's pretty good sized, although not full grown.
One of our favorite fun things about this visit was that each parking lot had it's own Raven. Just one, not more. And each of those Ravens 'owned' their lot. Even our hotel parking lot had one.
They weren't afraid of anything. And they walked around. Waddled, really. We wondered for the longest time if they were even capable of flying, they were so fat. But then we finally saw one take off for a short flight.
They didn't get in a hurry for cars, people, or anything else. We never saw anyone feed them (signs everywhere warn you not to approach or feed the wildlife) but they obviously found plenty to eat.
This last guy was in one of the overlook parking lots, and hopped up on the wall, apparently to pose. We got 4 shots, and might have gotten more, but there were other people lining up for their turn to shoot.
And then, on the way out of the park, in the same place traffic had come to a halt before, Dean got these.
Beautiful elk. A perfect finish to an indescribable day at the Grand Canyon.
I just want to add a note for those of you who might be planning a visit to this area. The sun is fierce. We got back to the hotel and found that Jeffrey, Dean, and I had all burned our faces. And Christi's and Kiersten's lips burned. Bring more than sunscreen. Sunglasses, at a minimum, and preferably a hat, too. And something to protect your lips. Jeffrey and Dean used Chap-stik. My Burt's Bees lip gloss worked for me. My lips are the only part of my face that are in great shape.
The wind is also a factor--it blows constantly. That means it can be hot away from the Rim, and cool at the edge, especially as the day wanes. Try to wear layers. And remember that the wind can cause a 'burn', too, if you aren't used to it.
OK. We'll be stopping a Hoover Dam next, then Vegas.
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