Grand Canyon

What I can I say. I spent two days at the Grand Canyon and it's all been said and photographed long before I ever got there. Yet, all the cliches are true. Sayings like, "it's indescribable" and "pictures don't do it justice," are a fact. Truly I think one does not need any photographic skills to get a good shot at the Grand Canyon. I think if you put your camera on self-timer and toss it in the air you'll come out with a good photo. That being said, I took my fair share of pictures. It's like the sunsets. How can you not.


Frances and I stayed at the Motel 6 in Flagstaff. It's 75 miles to the Grand Canyon and I had expected a windy mountain road. While it was only two lanes most of the way, it was straight and easy driving. I was able to travel between 55-70 mph the entire way and it was a scenic mountain drive. The elevation ranged between 6000 - 8000 feet and went through a national forest. There are a number of things to see along the way if you want to or have the time. In winter there is the Nordic Ski Center. Flagstaff hosts a couple of museums when you're headed out of town. There is a ranch that has White Buffalo. The only thing we stopped to see was the Chapel of the Holy Dove. It caught my eye. From the road, the door to the front of the chapel looked like it was only about three feet tall. In fact - while it IS a small door - it's just under six feet tall. It's an interdenominational chapel the has about four benches inside. It is an A-Frame building. Once inside the back has huge picture windows that look out onto the forest. I imagine it is probably used for small, intimate weddings. It kind of reminds me of that tiny chapel that used to be on Highway 17 on the way to Santa Cruz.


While at the chapel a couple pulled in with "just married" scrawled on their back windshield. They asked if I would take their picture and of course I did. Frances snuck into the shot but they didn't mind.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon and paid our fee at the entrance. I have to say that when I saw the small size of the parking lots and the number of entry lines for vehicles, that I'm glad I came mid-week in the off season in cold weather. There were still plenty of folks. If anyone goes in the summer I'd recommend taking a tour bus. It would be insane in large crowds. But today, it was not bad.


Dogs are allowed on the thirteen mile "Rim Trail" as long as they are on a leash. They are not allowed into the canyon. It's an easy paved walkway. We walked from Mather Point to Bright Angel and back, a little over four miles. Throughout the day there would be gusts of wind up to 60 mph, almost knocking you over at times. That would add a little excitement because there are many places along the trail that are not fenced. I was surprised - and pleased - to find that you are allowed to go as close to the edge as you like. And in many of the places, it's pretty close to going straight down. The high winds tended to keep folks a little further back from the edge. Here and there when a special walkway out to a ledge has been created, they do put up a fence or railing where folks (or dogs) can still observe the canyon with great interest.


Frances is very good with the "stay" command so I bent the rules a couple of times and dropped the leash so I could take a picturesque photo of her at the canyon. Several Japanese tourists saw me doing this and asked me and Frances to pose with them in their souvignier photo with the canyon behind them. Of course we did!

After our hike Frances was pooped and went to sleep in the car while I explored the various lodges. At one observation point a young man and a small crowd was staring out over a lookout point. The man was a member of the Peregrin Fund, an organization that studies and assists birds of prey. They are in charge of the California Condors that live at the Grand Canyon. The reason there was a small crowd is that one of Condors was on a rock below the observation point.


A bit about the California Condor. It is the state bird of California. In 1981 it was almost extinct, down to 22 known birds both in the wild and in captivity. Today through various programs and protection, there are now about 375 Condors, with about half living in the Grand Canyon. Of these, about half are wild born and half are captive born and then released. Those that are captive born are tagged with a number and a GPS tracker. The one I photographed was number 87, which I could see with the naked eye. These are big birds, with some characteristics in common with the vulture. They are black, with white markings on their wings. Their wingspan is nine feet. In addition to seeing #87 both on the rock and in flight, I also saw two others in flight. I was told by several park staff members that we were very fortunate to see so many.


I talked for quite awhile with the fellow from the Peregrin Fund. He told how they capture and release the birds and I learned quite a lot of interesting things about both the Condors and the program. He was holding a large antenna. With this antenna he could track the birds with the GPS and he knew which birds were in the vicinity of this portion of the canyon.

When he learned I had recently been to the Sea of Cortez he surprised me with a story of seeing crocodiles once on the Baja side of the Sea. Then we discussed the Black Frigate Bird that I became so fond of while in Mexico. I told him I saw one get in a fight with a blue footed bubi and I surprised him with the knowledge that the blue foots are on a rock in the Sea of Cortez.

There is one thing the park rangers are very adamant about. DO NOT THROW COINS INTO THE CANYON. This is a fairly new policy. Over the decades people have often used the canyon as a giant wishing well and thrown pennies into it. But a few years ago two Condors died from zinc poisoning due to eating pennies. All large birds eat a certain amount of rocks, gravel etc to aid in digestion. Coins will kill them.


At dusk I boarded one of the shuttle buses to Hopi Point to watch the sunset and the patterns of the clouds on the canyon.

On Day #2 we drove down the Eastern part of the rim trail. Because of the weather, the light on the canyon was quite different than the day before. The first day was quite hazy when looking towards the west. Air quality has becoming an increasing issue at the Grand Canyon with visibility being reduced up to 75% if it's a hazy day.


On this Eastern Trail I could see where the Colorado River cuts through the Canyon.


There was sporadic snow and hail off and on throughout the day. We stopped at many of the lookouts including Wotan's Throne and The Watcher Tower which was undergoing some renovation.


Next I stopped at Tusayan for a 30 minute lecture-tour on the ancient Pueblo Indians and accompanying ruins. Bit fat Ravens were everywhere along this route. They are used to being around people and were often as close as three-four feet away.


Once when I thought I had gotten too close to a Raven, I thought he was going to fly away, but instead he hopped several feet closer to me.





By late afternoon the snow began coming down heavily. I decided to leave the park since I had to drive back to Flagstaff over the 8000 ft summit, and had just learned I had a burned out headlight. By now the Canyon was being socked in by clouds and fog anyway.



However, once we were 20 miles out of the Canyon, the sky was clear and blue. So we stopped at the Yaba Daba Doo Campground - a Flintstones themed campsite - and had dinner at Fred's Diner. It was actually quite a tasty Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich, and the coffee really was only five cents, just like the sign said.


Afterwards Frances had her picture taken with her prehistoric cousin, Dino, and drove Fred's car.


Finally we made it back to the motel and I began downloading my bazillion photos. I do hope to return one day.