Month: September 2017

These are all photos taken Tuesday at the Grand Canyon (South Rim) using my smartphone camera.  I’ll post closeups taken with the digital camera at a later date.

These pictures were taken between 1220pm and 1245pm local time.  Colors change slightly throughout the day as the sun changes position and as I move to new vantage points.  It also depends on whether I am standing in shade or sun, and whether I am looking down into the canyon or shooting across it with sky included.  I don’t want to overwhelm you with too many pictures.  I took more pictures between 1245 and when I started heading back to get my car at 2 o’clock, and even a few more after that.  I’ll post those pictures tomorrow, plus some of the ones I’ll be taking from a different part of the Canyon on Wednesday.

Enjoy!

Ok folks, here is the lamest excuse yet.  I left my computer in the car when I arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona last night.  At least I hope it’s in the car or else I’m in even bigger trouble.

I woke up at 2am local time (now Mountain Standard Time) which is 3 hours later than my normal midnight bathroom break time.  That is my body telling me I need sleep.

Add to that the fact that I gained an hour yesterday crossing in to Arizona (which doesn’t play along with Daylight Savings Time) and I neglected to consider that back-timing a 730 arrival time meant I actually arrived at 830 Utah Time, which meant it was dark.

Lastly, when waking up briefly earlier in the evening (there are train tracks nearby, with lots of traffic and horns) I heard what sounded like a pack of coyotes or wolves (or perhaps feral Schnauzers) fighting right outside my window, which means that I am absolutely NOT marching out to my car unescorted without a firearm and without my Safety Sam vest (also in the car) at 2am local time.

I am going back to bed.

When it gets light enough to see predators I will go get my computer out of the car and will post one picture that I took yesterday at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with the American flag at half staff in honor of the 9/11 victims.

Taken on the 16th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks against America.

Before I get to Saturday morning’s activities I forgot to post two pictures I had taken the morning before on my way to the Grand Canyon North Rim.

Not exactly sure what is going on here.  As I was driving down the road I noticed these four birds just standing there with their winds extended.  At first I thought they were just air-drying their wings, but upon further review I think perhaps these were four males showing off to attract the lone female.

All I know is they knocked it off after I started taking pictures.

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When I left Kanab Saturday morning for a big scenic drive to the east, the weather looked pretty dismal.  Lots of rain had moved through overnight and the cloud deck was still very low.

Fortunately, the weather would improve.

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I saw a Historic Marker sign and was intrigued by what it said.  When I stopped to read the actual marker I was interested to learn that a short drive away sits the ghost town of Pahreah, near the Paria River (not sure why the different spellings).  The ghost town is often used as a movie set when filming westerns and such.  The sign next to the dirt road warned that driving on it should not be attempted when the road is wet.  I would have liked to have seen the little town but it had rained a good bit overnight so I didn’t chance it.  I’d like to get back to Durham without having to call AAA again!

I drove about 10 miles or so further east over nice, but nondescript terrain.  Then I went through a series of turns which dropped me a fair amount in elevation.  The scenery on that portion of the road, as well as what followed, was more dramatic.

Why the orange barrel, you ask?  Evidently someone started making the next right-hand turn a tad early and had an oops.

Maybe they were distracted by the scenery.

It would be behind these formations that I found the “Toadstools” (yesterday’s post).

These were taken after I visited the “Toadstools” formations, about a half hour east of Kanab.

When I got out to where I had parked the car a light rain had started to fall.  Actually, before I got to the car I should mention that something ran across the path in front of me, scaring me half to death.  I think it might have been a jackrabbit (a rabbit variation with very long legs and very big ears).  Either that or it was a kangaroo.

Anyway, when I got to the parking area two trucks were pulling in with UTV’s on trailers (no longer just all terrain vehicles – these are utility terrain vehicles thank you very much).  These vehicles can hold four people properly strapped in, plus a two-martini lunch (for those who like theirs shaken, not stirred).

I told the two couples who got out of the trucks that the UTV’s were way too clean.  They said they had just driven through some heavy rain which washed all the fun-mud off them.  They were driving west towards Kanab, and I would be driving east and into the rain they had just experienced.  They weren’t planning to use these vehicles here, they just stopped to see the Toadstools.

I continued on east and soon came to the recreation area they had been at earlier in the morning.  This huge rock sits in the middle of a lake.  It is called Lone Rock, and is part of the Big Water Recreation Area.  The lake (actually, it is part of the Colorado River) continues east towards the Glen Canyon Dam, and there is a marina with larger boats and other pleasure craft further downriver.  Lone Rock is next to the Big Water Campground.

If you look closely at the photo above you will see someone jet-skiing on the river.  Here is another photo from a slightly different vantage point which gives you some idea how big Lone Rock is.

I continued on towards the Glen Canyon Dam.  Once I passed over the dam I came to an overlook which offered some pretty dramatic views.  The dam itself wasn’t all that impressive, in my opinion, plus there were lots of power lines and such so it wasn’t a very good photo op.

I took advantage of my newfound spy status to take some photos of people without their knowledge.

After leaving the Dam area I moved on to the next venue.  While walking up the hill to that viewing area I caught these folks candidly as well.  At first I thought the guy in the photo below was proposing, but after examining another photo which was zoomed in more he was just taking her picture.

These folks (different from the “proposal” couple) were using their dog, Suki, as a prop.  Evidently Suki isn’t afraid of heights, and fortunately they weren’t offering her for sacrifice…

Suki is SO cute….

 

 

After proceeding over the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge I arrived in the town of Page, Arizona.  Here I found something I had already bought a picture of the day before.

The picture I bought was taken by a professional photographer, either using a special lens or after being hoisted by a crane.  I have neither of those items in my repertoire so you’ll have to settle for a two-part picture, given the size of the object and my proximity to it.

This is a bend in the Colorado River as seen from 1,000 feet above (yikes!).  Believe me, it took all the courage I could muster to get the shot of the actual bend in the river, achieved pretty much by walking close to the edge (I SERIOUSLY considered crawling out but already looked silly enough in my Safety Sam vest, and there were lots of people around) and holding my phone WAY out in front of me, hoping I was holding it at the correct angle.  I’m relieved these came out fairly well because I don’t care to go back.

I looked around for another sturdy spot and thought I’d better try again, just to be sure.

After finishing up things in the Page, Arizona area I continued making my clockwise loop back towards Kanab.  I stayed on Route 89 until I got to the town of Bitter Springs.  Getting there required making a fairly substantial elevation drop to the desert floor.  Once there, I turned right on Route 89A which would take me to the next series of sights.

First up – the Navajo Bridge, which spans the Colorado River.  Given the reduction in altitude, the drop from the bridge to the water is less than half what it was at Horseshoe Bend, up in Page.

This was taken from the pedestrian bridge which is located alongside the vehicular bridge.

And this is looked the other way, northeast, away from the pedestrian bridge.

And these give you some idea of what is in the area if you stop looking down.  First looking northwest, which was my direction of travel….

…. and then looking southeast, which is where I was coming from.

 

It had started to rain when I arrived at the Visitor Center and Grand Canyon Lodge on Friday.  Inside the Lodge is a restaurant and a large observation room with three huge windows overlooking the Canyon.  On either side of that room are outdoor decks with Adirondack chairs for relaxing while you enjoy the view.  There weren’t any takers today, as everyone wanted to lounge on the huge, dry, comfortable leather couches in the observation room, or stand and stare at the view.

This was the deck outside the left set of doors.

And this was the area outside the right set.  The restaurant is inside the building on this side, and the path down to the overlook I went out on was over here as well.

 

These are pictures I took with the digital camera on Friday at the North Rim.  They are all from two scenic roads north of the Lodge which ultimately lead out to Imperial Point and Cape Royal, respectively.  These appear in the order I took them, with improving, then deteriorating weather conditions.

I did not take any photos with the digital camera from the Lodge itself due to the heavy overcast.

 

These are pictures I took with the digital camera on Friday at the North Rim.  They are all from two scenic roads north of the Lodge which ultimately lead out to Imperial Point and Cape Royal, respectively.  These appear in the order I took them, with improving, then deteriorating weather conditions.