Grand Canyon Part Two

This morning we celebrated Sherry and my 33rd wedding anniversary over breakfast with community pancakes shared with the Campbells.  Complete with a single birthday candle.  Very elegant and very sentimental.  We DEMOLISHED the pancakes.  Following breakfast we packed and loaded the F-150 and by noon we were headed back to the Grand Canyon National Park to see the Canyon under blue skies and temps in the low 50's.  It was a crisp, clear day which made for glorious conditions.

We approached the park from the south and at the Visitor center we headed east along Desert View Drive. Yesterday we focused on the center and western side of the South Rim...today we focused on the eastern section.

We drove to the eastern end of the park and stopped at Desert View which is where the Watchtower is located.

 Our dear friends, Keith and Karen are so damn photogenic, ain't they?

 And the "sisters" are too cute.

As the afternoon progressed we moved along Desert View Drive, stopping at each of the viewing points. The bright blue cloudless skies gave us a very different, if slightly washed out, view of this magnificent ditch.  KC, Karen and Sherry had, however, agreed to stay until the sun was setting and that is when I hoped to get our best scenery.  As every new photographer is told, early morning and early evening sun gives us the most interesting subjects...the low sun provides shadows and colors that the mid day sun does not.  We were not to be disappointed...the setting sun brought out colors we could not see earlier.  And the growing shadows revealed shape and structure that was completely hidden with the sun high in the sky.  As the shadows lengthened a whole new Grand Canyon emerged.  And with a telephoto lens I could reach out and pull in features.  The longer lens compressed the features and made the peaks and ridges appear in layers. 

 
Our final viewing point was at the very popular Yavapai Point which is west of the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.  Sherry guided me to what she thought was the best vista and I parked my butt on a stone ledge and began patiently waiting for the sun to drop to the horizon.  The view was breathtaking, though I was forced to share my personal Grand Canyon with swarms of tourists from every country on the globe.  I was feeling very Kumbaya at this point and while some fellow gawkers were quiet and respectful...most thought they were at goddamn Six Flags Over America.  It brought out my inner serial killer and I nearly crushed a young, loud French boy's scale model Ford GT40 that he was noisily running over the rocks three feet to my left.

Still, watching the transformation of the Canyon was a very spiritual experience and in spite of the chill that the dropping sun was bringing to my tired old bones, I was mesmerized.  Eventually the shadows began covering the covering the amazing structures and I began feeling guilty for keeping us so long.  We had a three hour drive ahead of us, so I packed up and kissed the Grand Canyon goodbye.  Til next time my friend...only next time will be at the far less crowded North Rim.