Tuesday morning I’m having coffee by 4:15 am, and we are out the door an hour later, searching for sunrise.
I head east to an obscure place, no one else is here. We walk down the trail until just before the sun breaks over the canyon wall, where I sit on a rock that juts out over the canyon. Joy and Shiloh seem to sense my excitement and happiness and they laugh when I start singing softly, “morning has broken, like the first morning….”. I know they are laughing…I just know. ‘It’s coming!’, I tell them. ‘Here comes the sun, little darlings!’….and the sun peaks over the canyon and spreads delicious colors over the canyon walls. More tears! Sorry, this place makes me cry.
I whip out my IPhone to take pictures. Dead battery! Well, that just means I get to concentrate and meditate on the beauty, all the more.
After a bit we walk back to JR and continue our drive east to see the early morning sun all the way to Desert View and the Watchtower, 27 miles from camp. My IPad is with me, so for the rest of the morning I use it to take pictures.
Joy looks intensely, trying to figure out what she is seeing!
The dark areas are where the sun hasn’t reached yet.
Beautiful pastels!
The far East end of the canyon is less deep and it’s easier to see the Colorado River.
The Watchtower, at Desert View.
I am so awed! So wowed!
I take close to 200 pictures before leaving the canyon…just can’t stop.
Some statistics:
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles from Lees Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs.
It’s approximately a mile deep and 10 miles across.
At 2,600 square miles the canyon is slightly larger than the state of Delaware.
Scientific surveyers found 1,750 species of plants, 90 species of mammals, and 362 species of birds.
also I should tell you that dogs are allowed on the trails here, but not below the rim. They are not allowed in buildings or on the shuttle buses. Shuttle buses are regular full sized buses, and there are a LOT of them with various routes throughout the park, all free. Entrance fee to the park is $30 now, but still free with the geezer pass.
As I write this we have begun our trek to Yosemite, and are now in Needles, CA where the temperature is a whopping 97 degrees! Needless to say we are inside WS with the air conditioning on!
Wandering Spirit 
The pastels are beautiful, as are the bold colors in the next photo. One could decorate a very relaxing home in “Grand Canyon”!
True Maureen. And with all the variations you could decorate a mansion. AND the photos just don’t do it justice.
Another set of beautiful pics, and impressive words. The time reserved for meditation was probably a setup..you must have needed that! 🙂
Yes Pat, it is a place you could literally meditate for hours. ❤️❤️❤️
I enjoyed reading your post this morning. The Grand Canyon is awe inspiring. I saw it for the first time in Sept 2015 and I hope to see it again and again. Your pictures brought a rush of memories of our trip. Thanks!
Hi Dan, yes, as I was leaving yesterday I was thinking, I’ll be back! I’ll be back!
So glad you enjoyed the pictures.
I often forget to take pictures when I’m in that type of circumstance. The awe just takes over!
I know what you mean Cindy. I sometimes do the same thing. But here, generally just couldn’t stop. Until the battery ran out!😊
Mickie…you have such a way with words. I’m also very impressed that you can get up that
early to catch the sunrise. Your photos are great!
Safe travels..
Yay! I’ve commented 3 times, and one finally showed up! Guinness (the canine) and I met you at Meteor Crater RV Park, and we had a nice chat at the dog park.
Looking forward to following your adventures..
I’m generally up early anyway Sharon. ( Sharon, right?). Sometimes I’m having coffee at 4am even if I’m not anxious to photograph the sunrise. 😏.
I’m a morning person and sometimes it gets out of hand!
When someone first comments…and also sometimes if they haven’t commented in awhile, I have to ‘approve’ the comment. If I’m off line for awhile it might take me awhile because I don’t know it’s there. I’m pretty sure your first comment is here now, and I answered it…maybe on the last blog?
Wow,
That’s all I got.
Wow.
Rick? That’s all you got? Is this the real Badger Rick?😀
LOL, you know me so well.
But you can take it as a compliment that your photos silenced even the verbose Badger Rick. 🙂
😀😃
Just amazing isn’t it? Your pics are FABULOUS!!!! I cried when I first saw The Grand Canyon when I was on the road.
On Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 6:05 PM, Wandering Spirit wrote:
> onewanderingspirit posted: “Tuesday morning I’m having coffee by 4:15 am, > and we are out the door an hour later, searching for sunrise. I head east > to an obscure place, no one else is here. We walk down the trail until > just before the sun breaks over the canyon wall, where I sit o” >
Yes Krystina it really is. And worthy of tears!
If you happen to read this, just wanted to let people know I’m going into Yosemite today and I’m thinking I may not have good reception at my camp, and it’s a 45 minute drive into the valley. There is rain and snow in the forecast so the plan is to come back to Chowchilla on Thursday but if there is much in the way of snow that could change one way or the other. The roads in and out of Yo are mountainous and I don’t want to add any extra hazards…like snow or ice. I will try to post a blog while I’m there but give me to the end of the week JIC. 😊