Monday Morning at Grand Canyon National Park

September 24, 2018

I drove most of the day on Sunday to get from Capitol Reef National Park to Grand Canyon National Park. I found my campsite, got my tent set up, and supper preparations started  before Dutch and Tracy arrived.  They had flown into Phoenix and then gone camping with a friend from Tucson before driving on up to meet me. They got in in time to set up before dark. We pretty much got a stir fry over riced cauliflower ready to eat too.  But we were distracted by a bull elk and a couple of cows, as well as one calf that treated our campsite and the surrounding area as theirs. The bull was coming into rut and was periodically bugling. Later he chased of a smaller rival while near our camp. 

This bull elk plus his females and calves spent a lot of time around our campsite

Dutch and I are both avid photographers and wanted to do the sunrise tour. This involved us getting up around 4 AM, making sure we had our cameras and water, and driving to a parking lot at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, and catching a bus.  (Private cars are not allowed to drive on a lot of the roads.) We bumbled around a bit before locating the right parking lot, then the right bus. The bus was so full we had to ride standing up.  But soon we were walking east along the rim at Yaki Point.  Only one intrepid photographer was out on the rocks that face the sunrise when we arrived, but he soon had another twenty or thirty friends including me. Others took their pictures from different vantage points along the rim. 

Within a half hour after sunrise, most of the sunrise viewers had departed, leaving us to enjoy the ever changing light on the formations in the canyon and the birds that were busy feeding. I got into the photography business when a Pakistani family asked me to take their picture.  Then a pair of Australian guys asked me to do the same for them.  I ended up taking a couple of poses of them against the now beautiful background and got hugs from both of them before they got on their motorcycles and continued on their trip.  They were going to end up in California. 

The sunrise is well documented here

We didn't get much of a sunrise because it was too cloudy

I liked the cloud colors in the southeast

I was fascinated with the light interacting with the formations

Light painting

We got a double sunrise due to a cloud bank - second one was best

This became the spot for people photos

Tracy and Dutch

Captured while strolling along the rim

Shadow selfie

We were getting hungry, so we came back to camp for breakfast. Dutch cooked scrambled eggs and onions for us and we had some gluten free bread that our Tucson friend had baked for them. We enjoyed the elk and bird visitors to our camp. A

Mother and baby elk just behind our camp- that is the showers and laundry building behind them 

Tracy, Dutch and uninvited guest at breakfast

 After we started on our next exploration,  Dutch began to have what he thought was an allergy attack and ended up wanting to come back to  camp and sleep. Tracy and I stayed  at the Visitors Center and then walked to Mather Point and on to the Geology Museum before catching a bus back to the front of our campground. 

I had to take this picture of Apache plume seeds - they were catching the light so beautifully

A VERY long glimpse of the Colorado River

This stone will probably fall in a few short geological years - 100 -1000 years

The colors and feel of the canyon changes with the light

Rabbit bush was in bloom everywhere

A late view of the canyon

There are many towering whitish ricks agains the darker ones further down in the canyon

A closer formation against the canyon backdrop

Dutch was feeling even worse and now had a very bad sore throat. He and Tracy went shopping for various medicines and he then went back to sleep sitting up in the car while Tracy cooked lentil stew for supper. We were all tired and had an early night and decided to wait until morning to make plans . But we ended up having a very enjoyable day that I’ll share with you in two blogs. Stay tuned. 

Cassidy Arch Hike

September 30, 2017

I started driving to the trailhead at first light.  But it was cold and getting colder so I waited until the sun was rising. I didn't even make it to the arch, but the trail itself was exceptional.  This is a hot trail so it is best to hike it early in the morning. The light comes in from behind you then and makes for gorgeous colors. 

The trail was being repaired. The tape was to keep people out from under it - and possibly falling rocks

The trail does most of it's climbing at the beginning with steep switchbacks, and lots of tall steps

It also starts on the edge of the cliff - I never felt like I'd fall off the mountain

The trail starts about two tenths of a mile down Grand Wash, from the Scenic Road end. Then it goes back west, so I hiked back past my starting point. That little blue car on the far left is my Honda.

From a few hundred feet up

The sun was just starting to paint the highest cliffs

Another view along the trail in early light

That is the trail pretty near the top- pretty flat

The mix of rocks was amazing

Going up again

This almost felt like an alter

Several mountains had formations on top

And there were rock "meadows"

A close view

I met this lizard after I missed a turn and ended up in a rock field

That hole is the front of Cassidy arch

Just another sceen

Another topping rock

Can't get over these layors

Or how many rocks have broken off

View of the front of Cassidy Arch - from almost on top of the world

Just another view

These rock looked whipped to me

Trailside view

This was pretty much where I turned back.  But what a view. 

By the time I came back down, I ran into the trail builders. There were two woman and two men.  I stopped and talked to the women.  They are with AmeriCorps and have a few more weeks of work on this trail before going on to work on trails in Zion. There work was beautiful.  I only saw one place where you could see rebar holding the stone steps they were building.

This was a hike that had some kind of enjoyment every few feet. I highly recommend it.

When this blog comes out, I'll be in the Grand Canyon. I still have a few more blogs on here. Stay tuned.

Going with Gusto

I wanted to see the sun rise in the midst of all this rocky grandeur, so set off about an hour before sunrise to look for a good spot.  I got all the way to the east entrance of Capitol Reef National Park, before I decided I had a good place. The sun was just starting to color the sky when I got there. I stopped to take pictures, then noticed I could drive on the Notom-Bullfrog Road and get a higher perspective.

Sunrise from the east entrance

From the road to the Lake Powell Ferry

After enjoying the sunrise until it disappeared under clouds, I continued on west for a little longer. I found a sign and signs of camping at the Fremont Granary site.  I didn’t actually go in to look for the granary but was intrigued by a car coming out of a dirt road and the sign that told camping was permitted. I went in to find at least three camp sites.  None were being used and they were right in the rocky outcroppings. A great place to watch sunrise, I think. 

I figured it was closer to Towery than Hanksville, so I turned around and started back to breakfast in Torrey.  I noticed several more dispersed campsites along the Fremont river which sort of paralleled the highway. I stopped and walked to the river several times., enjoying the views of the river.  I also had to stop to take pictures of the magnificant stonework that is part of the Waterpocket Fold. 

One of the free dispersesd camp sites

Another site, along the Fremont River

I took a lot of these amazing rock features

Behunin Cabin

The Behunin family minus two kids - did they stand up to sleep?

A closeup view

Couldn't stop taking

Then I saw the sign for the trailhead for Grand Wash and decided I needed to hike in the early light. The next pictures are a few of the many I took.

The entrance to Grand Wash

Whipped rock

These suckers are BIG

Lizard

Niche

This rock fall reminded me of a candy dispenser on a very grand scale

Some narrow side canyons entered the wash

The colors changed with the light and camera settings

Many rocks have fallen

Sunlight and shadow

A closeup of the cracked, dry mud in the bottom of the wash

Nature's art 

This place has the BEST views

And so many colors

This is one of my favorite, showing the grandor

Looking straight up

By the time I got finished with my hike, I had over six miles on my step meter.  But I had to stop again to pick an apple or two at one of the several orchards in the park.

Loved this old wagon at the Jackson Orchard

Most trees had finished bearing

But a few still had fruit and they were delicious

I ended up going to the Wayne County Visitor Center for wi-fi and working on my pictures. I'm back to try to get this blog ready to go up on Sunday.  Time for a late lunch or early supper. Please forgive my mistakes. I usually can't find them on the first pass.

When this comes out I'll be driving down Highway 12 - which will have to have its own blog - to camp with friends who are joining me at Grand Canyon National Park.  Another wonderful set of adventures are in the offing.  And I have another day of adventures here.