Grand Canyon

You can almost take a ruler and lay it across the top.

November 28, 2013

*Sidenote: Holy crap blog post! So, life got a bit busy (my friend James and I did a thing!), and I got a bit lazy. But I am shooting to finish up my 2013 trip blog posts by March. Hard to believe it has been over a year since this trip!

So when I last left you guys, I was still at Zion. My next stop was the Grand Canyon.

I decided I would take a chance and enter the North Rim. I was told by a few people in Zion that if the North Rim was still open, I had to stop. Unlike the South Rim, the North Rim will close after the first heavy snowfall of the year. As I was driving there, I heard news reports that a big storm was rolling in. If I didn't get down there that day, it would likely close and I wouldn't have a chance to see anything.

There wasn't much to see in the North Rim park itself. All the offshoots from the main road were snow covered, deep enough that they didn't look the least bit inviting. I was pretty much alone there too. I never saw another car until I reached the camp right next to the rim.

But when I did get there, the timing couldn't have been better. The sun was just starting to set, and I saw the familiar color changing magic that was happening to the rock face.

I was a little spoiled here. There was a rock just above the trail that I climbed on top of to watch the colors dance. I am glad that I had this almost entirely to myself. It was awesome!

As the last bit of sun crept below the horizon, I made my way out of the park to find a place to stay the night.

I made my way east, since the park was closed to camping. Not that I would want to camp anyway. It was cold here, much colder than what it was in Zion, so I didn't feel like testing the limits of my sleeping bag. However, there really isn't that much going on east of the Grand Canyon. I did find the oddly named Tuba City, and stayed the night at a hotel.

After dropping off my stuff, I was getting hungry. I didn't have much food left after camping at Zion, so I went to the only place in town that was still open: Denny's.

Now, something I forgot to mention was that this was Thanksgiving Day. So here I am, thousands of miles away from family and friends, eating a breakfast sandwich at Denny's in Tuba City. It was a little depressing, being away from everyone. However, I got to thinking about my trip. How lucky am I, to be out here, exploring the place that I call my home country? How many other people get a chance to do this in their lifetime? Freaking sweet, right? Nothing quite like an egg sandwich with a side of self-realization for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The next morning, I set out for the South Rim. I was refreshed, and ready to look at some more awesome sights!

Unfortunately, mother nature didn't so much agree. Remember that storm that I mentioned was headed for the North Rim? Well, clouds tend to sink into the Grand canyon. This is very similar to what happened in Canyonlands.

There was an observation tower on the east side of the park. The observation part is apparently optional.

I was surprised at how many people were at the park! I mean, I understand that it was Thanksgiving weekend, but there were sections that were shoulder to shoulder just to get a look at the clouds! I felt a little bad, since it there were people from all over the world coming to see the Grand Canyon, but only saw clouds.

I was about to give up hope of seeing anything. When suddenly, bam! The clouds cleared!

Pictures don't really do this place justice. You can see a little bit of the detail, layers, peaks, valleys and colors. Try to imagine that being the only thing you can see; your entire field of vision filled. There is a reason this place is a world heritage site.

 Some people were a little braver than I for the sake of a photo. So I took a photo of them instead!

I even saw someone at work painting the view. I tried to be quiet so as not to disturb them.

The Grand Canyon was pretty cool to see. There wasn't much to do in late November, but I would love to go back again and try the Rim to Rim sometime!

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