July 14, 2012

First morning: Walking the Transept Trail

I promise you that this won't be like a Charles Dickens novel which can sometimes go on endlessly because he was paid by the word.  My idea was to create a movie in Picasa with a bunch of photos and upload it to my blog.  I had difficulty accomplishing this last year, so I wasn't surprised when I had the same problems today. Thus, I am breaking down the trip into small segments with lots of pictures.


Our first full day started with me praying to God asking Him to help me overcome my natural grumpiness from being woken up eight or more times in the night by the boys.  Usually, after three or four times, I have difficulty getting back to sleep and this night was no different.  God was good and answered my prayer.  After a meal of breakfast burritos, we got ready to hike the Transept trail to the lodge and back, have some quiet time in the afternoon and then do a driving tour of the North Rim.  Unlike the South Rim, which is one giant, flat wall of rock, the North Rim has "fingers" sticking out.  Our campground is situated on one side of the longer fingers and the lodge is at the end of the longest fingers so that it has the best view of the whole canyon.  To give you a better idea, go this map provided by the Grand Canyon National Park, keeping in mind that the brown areas are the canyon itself.  We took the Transept Trail, holding close to the rim for most of the way until we reached the Grand Canyon North Rim lodge.  From the Lodge, after taking a bathroom break and a break to rub the nose on Brighty's statue, we continued walking on the trail until we reached Bright Angel Point (not to be confused with Bright Angel Trail which starts on the South Rim and ends at Bright Angle Plateau).  Before we returned, we snacked, browsed the gift shop and took another potty break. The altitude was getting to us a bit, becoming winded and easily tired.  On the return trip, one of my children broke down crying she was so tired.  Lunch helped everyone's attitude.  That and some rest time.  In the afternoon, we drove....
Some of the trail wound through the woods

I love the lines created by the rocks.  It was a very hazy day.

Green!

Rocks!  This shot was taken near the Grand Canyon Lodge.  Note the railing in the foreground.  It is not a very common sight, which can be disconcerting.

Interesting angles cut out of the rock and interesting colors spilled onto the rocks.

This is not anyone in our party.

The trail ends at the big pile of rocks known as Bright Angel Point.

A naturally occurring wall of rocks.

We climbed up one set of rocks, but not up the tall pile at Bright Angel Point.

I love being here!

A tree hanging on for dear life!


It isn't just about rocks...here is a lovely moth



The feathery seeds of an Apache Plume Plant

2 comments:

Nadwrażliwiec said...

Great Canyon in Your photoes looks for me completely different than photoes from books - they are full of life. You had to put in this all Your heart. God created it very well and I see that You are thankful for Him. Greetings from Poland, Europe.

Jennifer Dougan said...

They look beautiful!

I could relate to your prayer for strength and energy after a hard night's sleep. That is a common prayer for me too. Wise woman, you are! :)

Jennifer Dougan
www.jenniferdougan.com