Grand Canyon National Park Tuesday, 3 July, 2012
First, let me say Happy Second Anniversary to Paul and Diana.
I awoke just before daybreak this morning and headed out to see the sunrise from Mather Point. I caught the shuttle bus at the campground. The Park has a very extensive shuttle bus system that makes getting around the park very easy. It is advisable to use the system whenever possible because parking spaces can be hard to find whenever the crowds are up and about. I could have walked but I did not want to wondering on unfamiliar trails in the low light of early morning.
At the second stop after the camp, I saw Diana walking so I motioned her to get on with me and we road to the visitors' center together. I had not known that she was up early too.
We wandered up to Mather Point to watch the sunrise. We decided to go near Mather Point to avoid the crowds. The effort to get up early proved worth the effort. Not only was watching the sun come up over the North Rim amazing, but spending time with just Diana was a priceless. I do not know how she feels about the experience, but I feel that our bond was deepened by the
time spent on the rim and the walk back to camp. I meant it when I announced to the camp that I love this woman even more than I did before.
On the walk back, we stopped to take a picture of a cow elk that crossed our path.
After breakfast, Paul, Diana, and Jay went to join a guided bike ride along the rim. Anita and I took off for a walk on the Trail of Time. The Trail of Time is a well paved trail along the rim. It is marked off in millions of years and explains the geological history of the canyon as you walk along. We hiked it all the way to the Bright Angel Lodge.
We road the shuttle back to camp and joined the rest of the crew for lunch. The bike ride was a big success. It was six miles long and the ranger leading it sounded like a personable and knowledgeable young man.
While Paul and Diana rested from their ride, Anita, Jay, and I went back to the Bright Angel Lodge area. We explored the area for a while, despite the rain and wind. After a short excursion, we decided to head bac
k. When we got to the bus stop, there was were so many people with the same idea that the buses were so full we decided to walk back to camp.
As Jay came back into camp, we saw a fellow camper photographing a deer. As we stopped to talk to him, another deer walked out of the bushes. Jay said, "Look at the elk!" I said, "No, it's a deer." As I turned around to talk to him, I saw the mountain sized elk standing right next to us. It had it's own forest on it's head. That was a huge creature. But not as big as the next one that walked out. The fourth one we spotted was the biggest one of all. All of them right there next to our camp. Just strolling along and grazing like they owned the place. My bad, it is their place. Obviously we took a boatload of pictures.
Since today was Paul and Diana's second anniversary, they decided that they were going to go out somewhere to have some alone time. We offered to stay with Jay. Actually, Anita and Jay stayed in camp and I went to Mather Point to watch the sunset.
Mather Point at sunset is a circus. More people are willing to see a sunset than those willing to get up early to see a sunrise. The place was crowded, noisy, and there were people climbing out on l
edges that were not the safest places to be. I am afraid of heights. I do have a healthy respect for them, especially high places with abrupt edges that go down of thousand of feet. I know my limits. I get street rat crazy with nervousness when I see someone else get near the edge of a high place, more so with children. I do not know why there are not multiple deaths every day with the disregard people have for warning signs.
Luckily, once the sun had gotten down, the crowd thinned out quickly. There were a few of us hanging out watch dark take over the Canyon. I was also waiting for the moon to come up because it was full moon. I saw it come up but decided that I did not want to wait long enough for it to actually shine into the Canyon. I wanted to catch the last bus back to camp because I did not want to try a hike in the dark down an unfamiliar trail. If you want to have a real spooky experience, stand on the edge of the Canyon after dark. There is a dark void in front of you that you know goes down forever, but you can not see. Still gives me the willies.
When Paul and Diana came back to camp, we learned that their date which was going great, took a turn for the worst when part of one of Diana's teeth broke off. The tooth was due for some work and choose now to go to pieces. Tomorrow they will try to get in touch with a dentist either here or back in Texas.
The elk wandered back into camp as we were bedding down. When I say they came into camp, I mean to the point where one was chewing on our camp chairs. We drifted off to sleep wi
th the sound of them walking around
camp.
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