Tuesday, April 29 - The Grand Canyon!

We were up early to make sure we could execute our plan of beating most of the crowds. While we thought we were up at 6:45 and out around 7:15, it turns out we were up at 5:45 and out at 6:15 (with plenty of light) when we packed up and left our campsite (we were staying at another campsite in the same campground that night). We first headed out to Tusayan about 10 minutes away to charge and eat breakfast. From there we drove all the way out to Desert Point, about 40 minutes away. On the way we passed two pair of elk. These were the first of seven elk sightings on the day!

Our first stop just before 8:00 was Desert Point. It was dramatic as our first stop of the day. We took it all in but were a little annoyed at the loud bus full of tourists who made a serene stop quite a bit less so.

From there we headed west towards the Visitors' Center, stopping at most overlooks along the way. Leon also managed to find a hat along the way, blown off someone's head into an easily reachable position. The Lands' End hat with a dog on the front wasn't the best but was still cool (he collects found hats - don't ask). Each overlook seemed better than the last one as the canyon deepened and the vistas opened. The scale of the Grand Canyon was really hard to comprehend. Leon and I agreed that we were glad that we went to Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point before the Grand Canyon, because they would have paled in comparison if we saw them after the grandeur of the Grand Canyon.

I thought this looked like the tree from Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kings

We reached the Visitors' Center around 9:30 and decided to take the bus out to Hermit Point. First, we had to take a bus from the main parking area to the bus to get to Hermit Point. Waiting for the first bus, taking the ride, then waiting for the second bus was arduous but necessary in a park trying to keep control of the crowds. 

A sunny morning turned ominous as we saw rain clouds on the horizon and the day became overcast by 11:00. We thought the day would warm near 60 but cooled into the 40's by noon. We even had a few snow flurries during the day. We finished our tour out to Hermit Point which included a short 1/4 mile walk and a one mile walk from one overlook to another. We took the bus back to the main area, had lunch, then bussed to the visitor's center. We had a quick look out to Mather Point then saw a few movies in the center. From there we headed to the geology museum which was small but informative. 

We decided to head to the General Store and pick up hot dogs to cook over a campfire for dinner, then call it a day at that point. The sun was starting to come out and make a cold day feel decent. We arrived at our campground around 4:30 and had a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing evening. We made a campfire for the first time on our trip more than 1.5 months in! We planned to have them more often, but the wind and late arrivals kept thwarting our plans. 

We stayed up a bit after dark then settled in for the evening. It got cool quickly after dark and we noticed this once we got in bed. We left the car on for the second night in a row so we could sleep with temps in the 50's instead of the 20's!