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Tuesday, October 11, 2016
I got up about 7. We walked down to the Lodge for breakfast. Slow service... She kept forgetting coffee refills and I had to ask three times for hot tea!
After leaving the lodge, we stopped at the Deli for a sack lunch to take with us.
We were soon on our way. Today's adventure is to explore the various overlooks off of Cape Royal Road.
One of our first overlooks was a wide spot in the road where the Ken Patrick Trail crosses the Cape Royal Road. It had some really nice views. The photo on the left shows Carl admiring the view here. The center photo shows the Canyon view. The photo on the right shows me taking yet another photo from this location.
These four photos were taken at another stop along the road. This parking area was the trailhead for a short (0.5 mile) trail to Greenland Lake, a seldom visited location. In fact, for the entire time we were here, ours was the only car... Greenland Lake is almost a misnomer. It's a seasonal lake formed by melting snow and, by this time of year, consists of a mud puddle in the middle of a meadow. However, at the end of the trail is an old salt house where ranchers used to store salt for the cattle that roamed these meadows before this became a national park.
The first photo on the left shows the colorful aspen near the parking area. The second photo shows the salt house as we approached it through the woods. The third photo shows the salt house's handmade door. The photo on the right shows Carl sitting on a log in the meadow where the "lake" exists in the spring.
These four photos were taken at Vista Encantada, one of the more colorful stops along this road. The photos to the left above and the photo to the immediate left show the views of the Canyon from this popular overlook. The photo on the right above shows the fall foliage along the canyon side across the side canyon.
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The photo on the left shows the view from Roosevelt Point, which wasn't as interesting as most of the overlooks. The main reason to stop here was a commerative plaque to Theodore Roosevelt.
The center photo shows the Canyon view from Wahalla Point. It includes a glimpse of the Colorado River far below. In ancient times, the natives that lived in the area would summer near this overlook and winter down by the river. They would also make daily visits to the river from this area to tend their crops and to bring water to the village.
The photo on the right shows the remains of this ancient village.
Once we got to Cape Royal's parking lot, we carried our sack lunch at the picnic area (and wedding site) located at Cape Royal. The photo on the left shows the view from the wedding site. We had a similar view from our picnic table nearby.
A large raven landed on the table next to ours and looked interested in our lunch, but we obeyed the rules and didn't share. Once he realized he wasn't getting anything, he flew off...
We then walked out to Cape Royal Point stopping at Angel's Window along the way.
The photo on the left shows Angel's Window as we approached it along the Cape Royal Trail. The center photo shows one of the Canyon views from atop Angel's Window. The photo on the right shows another Canyon view, this time including the Colorado River far below.
The photo on the left shows me venturing out onto the top of Angel's Window. The trail was rough and sloped to each side, hence the guard rails on each side...
The other two photos were taken from the large overlook area at the end of the trail. The center photo shows the Colorado River far below. The photo on the right shows some of the side canyons in the area.
The photo to the left shows another view of Angel's Window - this time from a pull-off along the road just below the Cape Royal parking area.
It was a tiring day. We finally headed back to barn about 3:15 to download photos, have a snack, and rest a little. I downloaded today's photos and labeled them. Then we sat on our porch for a while.
Then we walked back to the Lodge and checked the weather forecast at the Visitor's Center. It looks good for next few days. We also bought a collapsible water bottle and tomorrow's lunch at the Deli.
I took our purchases back to the room while Carl waited in Saloon. We wound up eating there again (beers and slices of pizza), topped off with some ice cream cones while watching the sunset on the veranda. There weren't enough clouds for a decent sunset, so we just watched, then walked back to the room for the night.
I turned my light out at 7:30!!!