First views of the Grand Canyon

First views of the Grand Canyon
Originally uploaded by bonbayel.

After our exerting day in Sedona, our drive to the Grand Canyon was a rest day.
When we got to the canyon (another jaw dropping experience!) we gazed down into the canyon safely from behind bars and walls, along with people from all over the world, many from Asia, but also some speaking languages we know - German, Dutch, Swedish. It was interesting studying the layers - and noticing the red rock several layers down. But the river was hard to get an eye on. One of the pictures in the Grand Canyon - South Rim set is a zoom to an area I thought might be river, and it appears to be so.

Then we went to the visitors' center to plan our short time at the canyon. We knew we wanted to hike down into the canyon the next day, so we had to pick a path. More on that in the next entry. There is a 20 mile road along the South Rim that ends up at Desert View, a fascinating visitors' center was built in the 30, designed by the same architect, Mary Colter, who designed the Bright Angel Hotel, where we later had dinner. She designed a wonderful Watchtower there, which is meant to mimic the Anasazi towers - although the windows are all glassed in, which we appreciated as a way to avoid the cold winds! You can read more about it through the link, and see the pictures I took of the inside in the South Rim set.

We also found out that there was a star-viewing talk at 8 pm, but by that time we were ready to go back to the hotel! (And it was cold!) Leaving the restaurant we saw about our only example of wildlife that wasn't a bird, squirrel or insect - a raccoon couple trying to cross the road. That got across in from of us, but we don't know how they fared on the other side of the road.

Enjoy the pictures from the surface. Tomorrow you get to follow us down the cliff!