Lonely Wednesday at the Grand Canyon

August 26, 2018


Wednesday morning Dutch and Tracy were up at dawn, finishing their packing. I made coffee and a quick breakfast.  All too soon, they were on their way to Phoenix to catch a plane back to Houston.  I had been reading a book while they packed and got to the can't-put-it-down point, so kept reading after they left. I finally  got around to taking a shower but by then the light was gone and I didn't want to be out in the sun. I needed to write a blog or two, so I went to the Park Headquarters to get free wifi and spent the middle of the day writing and editing.

My other plan was to redo the route to  the west as I wanted to see and document the light on the rocks in the canyon. I left my car in the parking lot by Headquarters and started out with my water bag with snacks and a jacket plus my camera. I had to catch a blue route bus, drive three stops, to catch a red route bus. The red bus stop has a beautiful view of the canyon, but it was still too bright for pictures.


My first stop was Maricopa point. The first being I met after I got off the bus was a sweet mule deer.

Very tame mule doe 

Canyon view in late afternoon

Several of the points are close so I elected to hike between them.  I soon found the trail going around a  fenced in area. When I got to Powell Point, I found that this is the site of the old Orphan Mine, where uranium was mined for thirteen years, leaving radioactive waste for the park to clean up.

Another view - think looking west from Maricopa

The rocks get more pastel in the evening

I kind of like my shadow selfie

The colors can be saturated, depending on the light

This was the trunk of a very determined cedar

I never got tired of the patterns and colors

Shadows are building, making the tips appear to be rising out of a dark hole

The trail itself had many interesting views

A bit of the Colorado River gleams in the shadows

Only the tips of the top rocks are showing

The back rocks are losing color

Mysterious

I wonder how long these rocks will remain here?

I enjoyed some watercolor pictures of the grand canyon and attempted to emulate them

This almost looked like lace just above the dark red rock

By the time I got to the Abyss, I was tired and decided to catch a bus. The sun sank, just as I got to Hermits Rest, but there were no clouds to make a sunset. By the time I got back to the final bus, it was dark.  I went to bed as soon as I got back to camp because I planned to be packed and driving off by daylight. I could not find a decent dispersed campsite, so gave up and got a motel room.  The next morning I met my new boss, for these two weeks and for next summer. It's going to be a lot of fun here. I've already gone to a staff meeting and met the staff that runs three refuges in the San Luis Valley of south central Colorado.

On a current note, I had a long day today helping to set up and take down the Kids Sandhill Crane Festival. I also took several hundred pictures which I edited down to a little over a hundred. I'm volunteering at Alamosa and  Monte Viste National Wildlife Refuges which are managed as a pair. Next week, I'll get to spray weeds from an ATV or UTV.  My boss bought me a helmet, because they didn't own any in my size.

I still have more adventures to go back too from when I visited Capitol Reef National Park.