Some of our Discovery friends pulled in last night and today, so we are busy catching up with old friends and making some new ones. It's going to be harder and harder to keep up this blog with so many things to do now and so many friends to visit with! But I will try!!
We left the campground early this a.m. and Chuck had to scrape the ice off the windshield of the Vue. It got down to 34 deg last night and it didn't get above 49 deg at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon all day, though the sun was out bright and it didn't feel that cold. We drove thru some very diverse terrain--first red rock canyons, then a few small towns (Orderville, Mt. Carmel Junction and Kanab in UT and speed-trap Fredonia in AZ), then high desert that was covered with sage brush, up into a forested area with lots of burnt pine trees, then thru beautiful meadows with yellow aspen trees and then into the north rim area with pine forests and burnt areas with new yellow aspen everywhere. They had several "Controlled Fires" at one place in the park that were still smoldering. We took SOOO many photos, but I'll try to just post a few. We did get to see two tassel-eared Kaibab squirrels, also known as the "Silver ghost of the Forest", but they were too fast to get a picture of them. They look like an ordinary grey squirrel, EXCEPT their tails are snow white! To see a picture of this squirrel, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaibab_Squirrel .
We left the campground early this a.m. and Chuck had to scrape the ice off the windshield of the Vue. It got down to 34 deg last night and it didn't get above 49 deg at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon all day, though the sun was out bright and it didn't feel that cold. We drove thru some very diverse terrain--first red rock canyons, then a few small towns (Orderville, Mt. Carmel Junction and Kanab in UT and speed-trap Fredonia in AZ), then high desert that was covered with sage brush, up into a forested area with lots of burnt pine trees, then thru beautiful meadows with yellow aspen trees and then into the north rim area with pine forests and burnt areas with new yellow aspen everywhere. They had several "Controlled Fires" at one place in the park that were still smoldering. We took SOOO many photos, but I'll try to just post a few. We did get to see two tassel-eared Kaibab squirrels, also known as the "Silver ghost of the Forest", but they were too fast to get a picture of them. They look like an ordinary grey squirrel, EXCEPT their tails are snow white! To see a picture of this squirrel, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaibab_Squirrel .
Here's the red rock canyon we drove thru before we got to Kanab.
And here's the high desert covered with sagebrush.
And then we drove thru a forest of pine trees that were burnt in a forest fire a few years back. They had cleared the ones closest to the road and they were all stacked in piles. It must have been quite a fire as acres and acres of trees were burnt.
And then there were beautiful meadows along the road just before we entered the Park.
Here's the lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where we had lunch "with a view." Our table was in front of the window on the far left of the building.
Here's one of the lookouts that we walked out on at the lodge area.
This picture is of Angels Window. We walked out to the end of this point above the window for a great view.
After they do a "controlled burn" in the Park, the first trees to come back are Aspen. They were a beautiful yellow color.
This is a picture taken from Point Imperial. The land at the top of the picture is the Navajo Indian Reservation. We will be going there later in our trip.
Later in the day as we left the Park, the animals were coming out into the meadows as this mule deer above did.
There were about 15 wild turkeys beside the road and then they decided to cross it!
Of course the day ended with "Happy Hour" and visiting with our Discovery Club friends.
Of course the day ended with "Happy Hour" and visiting with our Discovery Club friends.
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