It had rained all the day before so I figured it would be a clear day up north. I pulled over to take a shot of the peaks to the south.
It was still fairly cloudy as I passed the East entrance to the park and pulled into Desert View. Desert View has great vistas to an open expanse of the Colorado River as well as the Painted Desert to the East.
There is even a nifty tower built right into the side of the cliff. This brought back memories of when I was here last...10 years ago.
After Desert View I proceeded on to the various tourist trap points:
Navajo Point
Lipan Point
Moran Point
I ended up at Grandview Point and decided to take the Grandview trail down a ways. The first part of the trail is very steep and rocky. recent trail maintenance was apparent in the new cedar logs laid down for support. I ended up meeting an Arkansan and we hiked down to Coconino Saddle and back up.
Coconino Sandstone and crossbeds...geologist Mark Sitton for scale ;)
Dead trees make such great photos(clouds and shadows help!)
Cairns also make fine photos, well...anything is good when the Grand Canyon is your backdrop!
Last Chance Mine
John, my hiker friend from Arkansas, going up the switchbacks. I kept telling him how much elevation we gained every time he had to take a rest. Good spirited ol fellow, I bet he was glad to make it to the top.
I had my geology of the grand canyon book in hand...didn't want to miss anything! John said, "You're never too old to learn. All those old people that think they know everything aren't foolin' nobody." Ok, so it wasn't exactly like that but close enough.
I almost decided to go to Grand Canyon Village but made the wise decision to head back because at this time of day 1-ish, the crowds are horrindous! Took the scenic route back through the San Francisco Peaks to end a very clever day.
The End (for now)
