Grand Canyon - South Rim 2

One note: apparently it's difficult to keep a blog when you don't have internet. Oh well.


Yippee! The South Rim Visitor Center. It was so much busier than the north and east areas. It actually took a bit of adjustment to get used to the Disney World type crowds.
Shawn said I made a crazy face. Maybe it's an authentic wild animal face, okay?! This one is boring! When we finally took a look over the rim, we spotted the trail that my brother hiked last year. That's right. Nutcase hiked all the way to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon. You can't even see it from here it's that far down into the depths of the Grand Canyon.
Shawn and I can both honestly say that we had no urge to follow in his footsteps. Instead we had a drink on a porch swing. Aaaaaaahhh.Behold the beauty. Those matching t-shirts feature multiple wolves, some type of deer, moon, stars, etc. I was pretty impressed.For our stay at the South Rim, I splurged a bit on our accommodations. Hoo boy was it worth it! We had a Bright Angel partial view cabin and it was awesome.

We didn't know what to expect from the outside.
The inside was great. It was big, clean and had a nice renovated bathroom.
But the BEST part was the location. It was directly on the rim trail. We were about 20 feet from the canyon edge. Afternoon ranger talk right outside.
Oh, and the canyon was pretty fab too.
I guess we shouldn't make fun of other couple's shirts. Clearly we have an affinity for bright colors and wicking fabrics.
More California condors.

Sunrise at the South Rim. Taken by Shawn, duh.

Grand Canyon - South Rim 1

We drove in via the east entrance and made our first stop at the Desert View Visitor Center.The Desert View Watchtower.
Grand Canyon from the South East.Shawn on the tower's stairs.

Page, AZ

The distance from the North and South rims of the Grand Canyon is only 10 miles. By car, the distance jumps to 220 miles. So we made a pit stop in Page, Arizona.

The Glen Canyon Dam. It's the second largest dam on the Colorado River.
At the visitor's center. Enjoying our first look at Lake Powell.The aptly named Glen Canyon Dam bridge.Scenic view of Lake Powell.It is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States. The largest is Lake Mead.Marina. Lots of house boats and party boats.Just outside of Page is Horseshoe Bend. The river makes a sharp curve and it's breathtaking. (Sadly, our photo is not. But we couldn't exactly jump across to the other side for a back lit shot.)King of the mountain.One side of the bend.Queen of the mini mountain.Fun with shadows.I know. I'm sooooo tall and lanky. I get it all the time.

Grand Canyon - North Rim

Nerd alert! Of the Grand Canyon's visitors, only 10% visit the North Rim.
There she blows!
Not a bad spot for a morning coffee.The closest I got to a mule (or any animal) during the trip.Chilling canyon-side.
The Lodge at the North Rim.We stayed in a frontier cabin and it was great!A lookout. It's kind of hard to get a photo which really shows the scope because it's really friggin big.
Looking up at the Lodge.The man and the ditch.Front row seats for sunset.
Some people being fairly dumb on rocks out over the canyon. Or maybe they just had the chutzpah to finish Angel's Landing!
Pretty much Shawn's dream set up. Tortilla chips, salsa, beer with waitress service, Bananagrams and a front row view of the sunset over the canyon.
Lights from the South Rim. The North Rim sits about 1,000 feet higher than the South.

Shawn says the bright one is Venus and the dimmer one to the right is Spica. After sunset, there was a terrific park volunteer hosting an astronomy program. He brought his own (huge) telescope and was great with everyone's questions.