Just how long does it take for your internal clock to reset? It just doesn’t seem right to me to be staring at the ceiling at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. We were in the 24 hour McDonalds at 5:30 this morning eating breakfast and that’s just WRONG.
This early start did give us a jump on many of the other park guests and there were times during the morning when it seemed we had the entire Grand Canyon to ourselves. We took the “tips” brochure’s advice and went to the far end first because most people don’t read and start at the visitor center. As we walked along the rim, the sun was getting higher in the sky and changing the colors in the canyon from dim to vivid and making each view different.
Morning view of Canyon from South Rim near Canyon Village
View of Bright Angel Trail into the canyon
Along the path we came upon a rabbit drinking from a small puddle created by the rain yesterday. He drank until it was gone and then moved on.
While we were in the park, we’ve seen lots of elk, a few wild horses, lots of squirrels and a mule deer. We’ve been told that during this dry time, the rangers put out buckets of water for the animals. One of the birds that seem to be in abundance is the Raven. They look and sound like black crows but they are the size of a small cat. Evidently, they are considered very intelligent and can open a zipper on a backpack faster than you can shoo them away.
July starts the rainy season in the Canyon and not a minute too soon based on how dry everything looks. Unfortunately, with the rain comes the lightening. Grand Canyon sees 26,000 lightening strikes per year, second only to Orlando, Florida but up here, that lightening means fire most of the time.
Tonight we took a Sunset Canyon tour and watched the sun casting its shadows on the canyon walls with the backdrop of storm clouds from the north rim. Here are some of the pictures but bear in mind, the camera never captures the incredible views the eye can witness.
Light from Sunset reflecting on the Canyon wall
Sunset over Grand Canyon
goneagainblog.com 