Grand Canyon

I found a coffee shop (after a several-day hiatus from good coffee), had my Americano, a freshly made scone and also bought several assorted bottles of juices. It is so DRY here, with humidities in the teens. I talked a bit with a young hippieish kid who said he was on his way to church. The guy behind the counter asked him when church started and the kid said "20 minutes ago." I got the impression he only went to do the music, like the rock and roll. They told me his Dad roasted the beans when I complimented them on the coffee.


It was early, and I knew I wouldn't be able to check in until mid afternoon, so took my time and read awhile at a table in the sun. Grand Canyon is 60 miles due north of Williams. I got there at noon and immediately went into the Visitor Center bookstore and bought books and DVDs. There were at least a dozen places to buy stuff in this general vicinity. Going to the Grand Canyon means resisting temptation to wander through these shops as they are EVERYWHERE. Over the top with the thousands of items.


Even this time of year, there were more people than I expected. The summer crowds must be insane. Remember Old Faithful Maria? It's probably like that. But I liked the mix of people that were there this early Sunday in March:
1. Foreigners...German, French, Japanese....
2. Young couples with their small children.
3. Young hikers, fit, handsome, laden with gear. One group was cooking their evening meal right off the Rim Trail Sunday night enticing passersby. It smelled delicious...like a spicy chili.
4. Older hikers, fit handsome and less laden with gear. One group of three were headed down the Bright Angel Trail at sunrise Monday morning.
5. Teenagers in groups, probably on school trips.
6. Middle-aged and older couples quietly gazing, photographing and walking slowly along the rim.
7. A few Native American families.
8. Occasional a single older man or woman (maybe travelling like me?) standing quietly looking out over the stunning Grand Canyon in an atmospere of blue skies, sunshine, no wind, clear air, leftover snow patches, juniper trees...Everyone has either been there or seen photos and it really is impossible to describe the view and sensation of awe when standing on the rim.

At one point, a guy walked very close to the edge to take a picture, and his family erupted into excited Japanese obviously cautioning him about being too close.

At sunrise, there was a family with a couple of young kids wrapped in blankets, sitting on the wall.

Early Monday morning, a gentleman I had seen ambling about the previous day stopped and aaked me where the coffee was. I had scouted out this information the night before and asked him if he knew where the bar was. "Oh yes, I know the bar, I certainly know the bar," he said. I told him the bar was the coffee shop for a few hours every morning. He was wearing a long wool double-breated overcoat.

A group of 10 of us sat on wooden log benches Sunday afternoon and listened to a Forest Service ranger talk about California Condors...how they were nearly extinct in the 80s and how there are now close to 400. She kept talking about how they "pull" them in for various reasons, one of which is when they need treatment for lead poisoning. She said, "This is not a hunting problem; it is an ammunition problem" and, while not mandated, most hunters are slowly but voluntarily changing to copper ammunition. Condors only lay one egg every two years; they are believed to live 50 years. I asked how they "pull" them in and the ranger said they put out carrion. She didn't get too specific about all their management techniques as I know there is controversy about these issues. All the Grand Canyon Condors are also tagged and have radio transmitters. Their wing span is 9 feet! No, I didn't see one, unfortunately.

I had a small cabin close to the rim in the Bright Angel Trail area with no frills but renovated bathroom and a reasonably comfortable bed. Directly east along the rim is the grand El Tovar hotel. I think Obama and his family stayed there not long ago.

Part of the several-mile long Rim Trail runs in front of all the cabins, El Tovar, the shops and restaurants, and at first I was barely able to get close to the edge but that feeling eased somewhat. I certainly was not the only one. People were hiking the trails but "ice crampons" were recommended. I was envious of those who could and did hike but also knew it would be foolhardy without training and certainly not on icy trails where a misstep would send me plunging several hundred feet. One couple had returned after going to the bottom. They came up a day early because the woman was so cold, she "couldn't feel her feet" even though they had good sleeping bags. The Bright Angel Trail is 9.5 miles down and then, of course 9.5 miles UP again. I met another guy ready to leave from one of the other trailheads. He was from the Chicago area and had hiked the Canyon before but was now going to take "these old guys" on a 4-day hike. He showed me (we were at a view point where we could see the Colorado River) where they were going to camp each night. One time, looking with binocs, I could see two yellow rafts on a tiny beach. (The River is not always visible from the rim.)

The Kolb brothers (Ellworth and Emery), Captain John Hance, Fred Harvey and Mary Colter...all are still are very much in evidence in the bookstores, museum exhibits, on informative plaques, in the lookout studios and the old, round, stone watchtower near the eastern end.

I saw three birds I thought were life birds for me and none of them were: the first was the very tame Western Scrub Jay which I had seen in Oregon. The second was a Pigmy Nuthatch. I had had a glimpse of one at my neighbor's feeder in Kalispell, but not such a great look that I knew exactly what they looked like. This sighting was much better. The third bird had a milk-chocolate brown triangle on its back. It looked like a sparrow...but turned out to be a Dark-eyed Junco (one of the "grey-headed") species. It looked very different from the Michigan juncos, obviously. I also saw one strikingly handsome Stellar Jay (not a LB) and Common Ravens were everywhere and very tame.

Again, the lingering snow patches made it all even more beautiful...

I headed east the next morning, driving along the rim and pulling off at several viewpoints. There were four female elk along the side of the road. A woman with a long lens and wearing a long skirt was photographing them. Most peoople congregate in the El Tovar / Bright Angel area so these spots were very peaceful with absolutely no sound in the cool early morning sunshine.