Grand Canyon National Park – Third visit May 12 – May 14

I have visited the Grand Canyon two other times and I have to say that this time I only did the rim trail like 97% of all of the visitors to the park.  Starting off the visit was over a 1 hour wait to enter at the toll plaza and all 5 lanes were open, had to think what the summer will bring.  Once through the plaza at 1200 I headed to my campground.  The ranger station to check in is right off the road and I parked Dundee.  I let a young lady go in front of me and she was looking for a first come first serve site.  As luck would have it someone cancelled the night and she was able to get the site.  She however needed two nights and was told the first come first serve sites would only be rented by the day and she would have to be at the ranger station to check by 0800 the following day.  Guess planning was not high on her priority list.  The campground is very nice and there are over 300 spots so it is very big and the RV campground is separate from the Mather.  Before the ranger station is a laundry and shower area that was something that I did take advantage of on the second night in the park.  For two dollars and fifty cents I was able to take a five minute hot shower and shave in the shower.  It is amazing how fast you can shower when you need to do so.  

The first day I scouted out the Rim trail wanting to see the spot for the sunset that evening.  Walking to the Rim trail from the campground was about 1.5 miles and was an easy walk.  Once on the Rim trail I saw a ram just hanging in the shade.  I took a few photos but they did not turn out well.  Off I went in search of the sunset spot.  What I found was a second ram eating off the trail.  I started to take photos but a lady kept standing in front of me so I would move to get a photo and she followed me.  Finally I asked her to move and she was oblivious to the fact that I moved twice and she was in front of me.  After a few photos I was on my way.  I found a couple and explored the trail to the East of my starting point.  I did stop at the “end” of the trail and a guide was talking to his group so I listened into his speech.  This particular spot you could see two sections of the Colorado river and even the only bridge across the river in the park.  The guide also spoke about all the helicopter traffic in the canyon, stating the Park Service is upgrading the water supply to the south rim.  It seems all the south’s water comes from the north side of the park so lots of helicopter runs were needed to bring in the supplies.   Making my way back to the starting point of my journey I spotted second ram but this time he was on the trail.  Off the trail I went as I felt he needed the right-o-way.  He was gracious and took it and moved down the path allowing me to get back onto the path and end the hike.   As nightfall was coming, heading back to the spot for the sunset photos I went.  Just off the trail were two female elk feeding.  I decided to go off the trail and give them what I thought was a wide birth.  As my luck would have it one of the two did not think I gave them enough space and came after me.  I decided that the road was the best bet for me to run when the elk was within five feet.  I however did not remember there was an incline and down went Frazier.  Thankfully the elk stopped, think it was laughing at me.  I then dusted myself off and more importantly checked my camera gear.  Just a few road rashes on me and my gear was all we had at the moment in time.  It was close and please give animals plenty of space as we are in their homes.  When I got to the spot there was four people two male and two female.  The males were below us and were throwing rocks off of the ledge they were on.  Not cool to through rocks off of cliffs.  Thankfully they moved along.  I was able to get plenty of photos of the sunset and my day was coming to an end.

Day two started with me being a bit stiff from my encounter with the elk so I was going to go easy today.  I went back to the Rim trail and went West.  I was able to go to the start of Bright Angels trail in the village.  It makes me wonder about some of these National Parks.  Grand Canyon is like a ski resort but only with the canyon in lieu of a mountain.  People are everywhere and they are more interested in purchasing stuff than exploring the canyon.  On my way back to my campsite I was walking on the trail and a teenager and his mom were walking towards me.  The teenager took something out of his pocket and then threw it on the ground.  That bit of lack of respect plucked my nerve and I said to the teenager that I could not believe he would litter in the park.  He looked at me like I had three eyes so I said he should pick it up.  Again, he was stunned and his mom did not even say anything good or bad.  I then picked up the trash and walked it to the nearest trash can about .75 miles away.  Why would you litter in a beautiful place like nature when it was already in your pocket?  I could see by mistake something falling to the ground and you not knowing but a deliberate act.

I tried twice to get some nigh sky photos but it was cloudy, bummer.com, maybe my next stop.