Our last evening at the Grand Canyon was spent at the easter edge of the south rim.

…Mike

When we got to our turn-around point on the Kaibab trail, there were a few condors hanging out. I was able to get pretty close to #74, as you can see:

On the way back up the trail, we saw him (or her) buzzin around with some buds.

…Mike

There is a trail that goes down into the canyon itself, and we decided to give it a go.

The trail itself goes right to the river’s edge, but it is a two or three day hike. So we went about 1/3 of the way down. Took about two hours.

The park management makes no bones about how dangerous the hike is, due both to the trail’s lack of safety rail and to the heat. One of the signs make it very clear:

The heat wasn’t a big concern…it was about 10 degrees on the rim…although it got hotter the further down we got. Here are some of the photos from the trip down and back up again.

Colour vs. infrared

…Mike

I generally don’t like getting up early, but for the Grand Canyon I can make an exception. It was very cold…I had to wear every­thing I brought with me or I’m sure I would have snapped in half! To whit:

This is when the sun just made it over the horizon and caught the edge of the cliff.

And some colour and IR photos as the morning sun got higher in the sky

One of my faves

Christine waiting patiently for me to come back from the edge of the cliff

Me on the edge of the cliff

I have to say that I am really glad for the reliance on common sense and the absence of chain link fences all over place!
…Mike

We arrived at the Grand Canyon just in time for sunset. Remember how I said it was cold for a few days in Vegas? Well, there was still snow on the ground here! We weren’t expecting that We found a great spot to view the canyon as the sun went down…what an expe­rience. There is no way to capture the scale of the place…but I tried!

How can I resist not using my IR camera?

This one was taken very late…you can see the stars if you look close. Yay for full moons!

Our first night in the Grand Canyon was spent at the El Tovar Hotel on the edge of the south rim.…literally 30 feet away from the edge. The designer, Charles Whittlessey, designed it so that no room has a direct view of the canyon; he (so I was told) wanted people to get outside and enjoy the view and not just look at it through a window. Smart guy. Here’s a picture taken at night of the hotel:

…Mike