MAY 1
We spent the morning driving to the Grand Canyon, entering on the east side of the south rim, with allowed us to stop at several lovely vantage points. The first of the these was the Desert Watch Tower built in the early 1900's and serving as an introduction to the park. Stopped along the south rim for lunch, then finally on to our camp site.
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| First views of the Grand Canyon |
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| We were able to climb to the upper floors and explore |
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Lunch at a view point
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| We find that we are sharing the camp ground |
There are signs everywhere saying don't feed or approach the wildlife. But these guys are sooooo cute!
That evening we made our way to Hopi Point to watch the changing colors at sunset.
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| We were not alone! |
MAY 2
Day 2 was beautiful and pleasantly cool, so we headed straight to the trail head of the South Kaibab Trail which leads all the way down the canyon and , in fact across the river and beyond. We planned to hike down an hour or 2, then return.
The colors and the shading are strikingly different as soon as we dip below the rim, and there is a constant subtle change as we hike further down, filling us with awe.
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| Ohh Aah Point, deserving of its name |
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| The hike back up was a bit harder than the hike down! |
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| Had a little time to just hang out at the Ollie. |
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| Another destination in the park, once occupied by the local hermit |
That night we had clear enough skies for star viewing. Volunteers set up telescopes and we lined up to see stars, planets and the moon. One of the group gave a nice talk about constellations. Michelle asked about a linear smudge making its way across the sky and we were told that it was Starlink!
MAY 3
Today we made our way to the Bright Angel area at the rim to hike down that trail.
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| Did I mention that the elk are everywhere? |
The signs along the trail provided some additional entertainment.
