Grand Canyon Part 1, South Rim

The Grand Canyon is a place neither of us has ever seen, and our first stop was the South Rim.  The view was absolutely breathtaking!  The massive expanse that lay before us was something words can’t do justice to.  It really felt dreamlike to me… surreal.  We stood staring down thousands of feet, out across the miles to distant plateaus, and down to the Colorado River, which appears as but a thread, delicately winding its way through the rock, though it is the very force which created this place.  To me, it felt like floating on a cloud.  To Ken, it felt like treachery.  Actually, it wasn’t quite that bad for him.  He was definitely in awe of the place and enjoyed it thoroughly, but scolded and glared at me several times when he thought I was too close to “the edge.”  Perhaps my definition of “the edge” is different than his!  Anyhow, I did maintain a safe distance from “the edge” and managed to take a ridiculous number of pictures.  I did suffer two disappointments – first, the air was very hazy, and second, I was unable to compensate for that with the camera.

Much to my delight, we’ve seen a ton of ravens, which is a real treat for us.  They’re intelligent, comical, and fascinating, and we just love seeing them.  We don’t get to see them often, so here in the Grand Canyon, we were in raven heaven.  This guy decided to check out our belongings, giving it a couple of exploratory pecks to see if anything was loose and worth taking.

He very graciously stayed to pose for a couple of pictures, which, as you can see, made my day!  He and a few others were hanging around this parking area, very relaxed about being near people… I’m pretty sure they get a good number of handouts.

We took a few more pictures in the area, and then, at my cousin’s suggestion, headed for the North Rim.  Our original plan was to camp at or near the South Rim, and then go to Canyonlands and Arches.  Perhaps we’ll have time on the return leg of the trip to see those places, but the North Rim beckons, and it’s supposed to be even more incredible than the South Rim.  Our path led us through the Painted Desert, incredible landscapes, and huge expanses of Indian Reservation territory.

We stopped at the Navajo Bridge crossing the Colorado River for a break and took several pictures.

Then we continued on our way to Kaibab National Forest, which borders Grand Canyon National Park.

We passed through Jacob Lake, and got some excellent info from the lady at the Visitor Information Center, including a little map showing good areas for camping - all for free in the National Forest.  We looked at a few sites, found one we liked, and set up camp for the night.  Few things beat free camping in a beautiful forest!

There are lots more photos in this album... take a look!