Our hotel was located south of the Park in Tusayan a small town full of hotels and eating places, not at all attractive, but we were only spending the night there (well, three nights actually), so could ignore the place.
Up at a reasonable hour despite being woken at 5.20 by a couple of young boys running along the corridor shouting at each other; Ruth's teachers voice soon put an end to that game! We had a leisurely breakfast then set off for the Park. In summer there is a free shuttle to the Park but it had stopped a week before our arrival so we drove.
Into the Park to catch a shuttle bus to the far west of that section of the park, fortunately it was still running and forty minutes later we found ourselves at Hermit's Rest. The views were stunning, the sun was shining and it was hot, around 80F. We joined the Rim Trail, heading east through Pima Point, Monument Creek Vista, The Abyss, Mohave Point, Hopi Point and Powell Point, a walk of some 6 miles. Ruth dropped out at The Abyss, the heat was a little too much for her and the trail became more difficult and closer to the Canyon's edge! She caught the next shuttle.
The views at each of these lookouts was stupendous, as indeed were the views all along the Trail, we saw a couple of young Elk, an Abert squirrel, several chipmunks, and ravens and eagles soaring along the edge of the Canyon.
We met up again at Powell Point and by now it was 4.15, so we decided to catch the shuttle bus back to Pima Point to watch the sun go down, the colours of the rocks on the opposite rim were already intensifying in the late afternoon sun. Pima Point did not disappoint, it was stunning but as the sun still had an hour to go we decided to move east to Mohave Point. The shuttle bus obliged once more and soon we were watching the last rays of the sun across the Canyon, absolutely fabulous. Just as we were boarding the shuttle bus many eagles circled overhead, maybe they had seen supper! The bus had to slow down enroute to allow a large female elk stroll across the road, didn't seem to be at all bothered about the traffic.
We returned to the bus terminus, picked up the car and drove on to Grand Canyon Village to,find something to eat. We found a cafeteria and were surprised to find we had to order our food on a screen and wait at the pass to collect our food. It was ok, nothing special, but after a hot dusty day anything would have done. Driving back to the hotel we too,had a close encounter with an elk. Same scenario, the elk just took her time. It's a big beast so you don't want to hit one at any speed.
Another amazing day, just brilliant.
