Photography by Marilyn Price

Grand Canyon 2006

February 17 - 20
February 21
February 22
February 23
February 24
February 25
February 26
February 27
February 28
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 4
March 5 - 7
March 8 - 11 		Wednesday February 22, 2006

We were up early for a sunrise shoot at Mather Point. Some of the photos I took that morning follow:

Sunrise over the Grand Canyon as seen from Mather Point Early morning light illuminates the Grand Canyon, as seen from Mather Point Early morning light illuminates the Grand Canyon, as seen from Mather Point

Early morning light illuminates the Grand Canyon, as seen from Mather Point Early morning light illuminates the Grand Canyon, as seen from Mather Point Early morning light illuminates the Grand Canyon, as seen from Mather Point

After a sunrise shoot at Mather Point and breakfast, we returned to the room to pack up our duffle. Phantom Ranch has a duffle pack service, where the mules will haul most of your gear down (and up) the trails, for a price. After hauling everything ourselves for the previous two trips to Phantom, we had made arrangements for the mules to take everything we didn’t need on the trail itself, like changes of clothing, toiletries, supplies for the hike out, etc. Once that was done, we packed up everything else and reloaded the car.

We dropped the duffle off at the stables, ready for the mules. Yup. We had kept under the 30 pound weight limit. Only 20 pounds going down!

Then we went back to exploring overlooks. Some of those photos follow.

Dead trees frame the view from Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Visitors enjoying the view from Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Stark tree limbs frame the view from Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The three photos above were taken at Maricopa Point.

Visitors enjoying the view from Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Derrick from old uranium mine near Maricopa Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The photo on the left above shows Carl enjoying the view from Maricopy Point. The photo on the right shows the derrick from an old uranium mine near Maricopa Point. This uranium mine was the richest uranium mine in the nation as late as the 1960s, but is now a derelict.

View from Mojave Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ View from Mojave Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ View from Mojave Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The three photos above, though very different, were all taken from Mojave Point.

We finally winding up at Hermit’s Rest, the western most point accessible by car in the main part of the park. In the snack bar/souvenir shop they have there, we found a photo of a black and white cat named Oreo (the shop cat) with a short story about him.

Oreo had followed a couple of hikers down the Hermit Trail a couple of years ago. They had tried to shoo him back up the trail, but he continued to follow them all the way to the spring that’s just over two miles down the trail. The photo showed Oreo stretching to drink at the spring. When it came time to go back up, the cat was exhausted, so one of the hikers put the cat into her backpack and carried him back up the trail. Oreo ate a large meal, then slept for two days....

Thinking we’d better wake up our muscles after so many days in the car, we decided to hike part way down the Hermit Trail. We went about a mile, then, when it became obvious that the trail wasn’t going to improve and wasn’t going further into the main canyon itself, we turned around and hiked back out.

Hermit Trail trailhead, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ On Hermit Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ A fellow hiker on the Hermit Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The photo on the left above shows the Hermit Trail Trailhead. The center photo was taken on the trail and the photo on the right was taken just before we turned around to return to the top and shows a fellow hiker coming down the trail.

We ate a late lunch, then stopped by Yaki Point to see the trail conditions and to take the three photos below.

View from Yaki Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ View from Yaki Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ View from Yaki Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

We then drove back to the hotel area and checked into the Bright Angel. Again, we dumped everything in the room, then grabbed the camera and walked along the patio area in front of the hotels. The three photos below were taken on this little walk.

Grand Canyon from the walkways near the Village hotels, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Grand Canyon from the walkways near the Village hotels, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Grand Canyon from the walkways near the Village hotels, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

We went out past El Tovar, into an area that we had never been to before. It was a nice predinner stroll.

After dinner, we rearranged everything for tomorrow - getting the backpacks ready, and repacking most of our stuff into the four bags we planned to check with the bellman. Then it was time to hit the sack.

Next...