Our first view of Grand Canyon, near Desert View, at the eastern end of the park.

This awesome canyon was cut over millions of years by the Colorado River. This river carries a very large amount of silt: "too thin to plow, too thick to drink".

The Grand Canyon is up to a mile deep in some places, measured from the rim to the river below. There are many cliffs, but usually the falls in a series of cliffs and steep slopes down to the river below.

We were extremely fortunate to see TEN California Condors as they took off for the day from their prior night's roosting place!! We watched in awe as one by one they took off and flew right past our vantage point, sometimes only 50 feet or so away. Magnificent soaring birds, they barely flapped their wings even once after they took off. We watched them glide away inland for the day.

Once so close to extinction that the only Condors alive were in captivity, they are being reintroduced in various areas, one of which is here in the Grand Canyon.

A view of the canyon late in the day.

Thunderstorms often crop up over the canyon in the afternoons of the summer months. They are usually short-lived, and pass quickly.

In the winter the north rim is covered in snow, while the south rim (where we are now) usually escapes, due to its lower elevation.

Travel      SW USA 2001      Arizona      Utah      Colorado  

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