Day 11 – Grand Canyon Tour and Sunset View

We went into the park Friday morning knowing that we would leave around 1 or 2 so we could have an early dinner so we could catch the sunset that evening. 

We took the Orange line shuttle bus east to see a viewpoint one of the ranges said was a good view of the river and the canyon.  Below are a couple of pictures. 

This is Raven flying around.  This is for our friend Tom Noel

A couple of Ravens

We then took the shuttle back to the main visitors center and got in the car to drive to an overview that had a stone tower over looking the canyon.  We thought this was an old structure but found out it has a steel frame with stone walls.  Rick, Dorrie and I walked up the stairs – about 40 feet high.  It was hard to get a good picture from inside because of the glass windows.  I did get a couple of

Desert View Watchtower

good pictures on an open air-viewing platform.

Colorado River running thru the canyon

Then back to the camper.  We fixed a spaghetti and meat sauce dinner and ate outside in the sunshine.  After a quick walk with the dogs we headed back to see the sunset.

A quick word about Chloe and Sadie, they have been really good on the trip so far.  The problem the poor puppies are having is finding a place to potty.  Since leaving Arkansas, there has not been anything close to what you could call real grass.  In New Mexico Chloe got a sandbur in her paw.  Dorrie was able to get it off her pretty easy.  The dogs don’t like to do their business on gravel, but they had to adapt.  Finally in the Grand Canyon area they have a little bit of grass.

Mary decided to stay at the camper – she took a tumble earlier walking a rough path with large stones sticking out of the ground.

We had to catch a Red line shuttle bus to get to the suggested viewing point.  We had two ways to go on this – stop at the Visitors Center and ride the Blue line shuttle to a point where we could get on the Red line, or drive to the end of the Blue line.  We thought we would be smart and drive over to the Red line.  So did everyone else!  We lucked out and found the last parking space in the lot.  It was about a half-mile walk to the shuttle stop from the car, down hill.

A view while waiting on the bus

We rode out to Mohave Point and walked down to the guardrail.  The wind had picked up in the afternoon and it was really cold watching the sunset.  To top it off, we were not overly impressed with the sights.  The sunset itself was beautiful but we expected more from the canyon.  Live and learn.  The return bus ride was really bad.  The bus was jammed and all the seats were taken but we were able to stand and ride back to the shuttle stop.

That walk back to the car was cold and uphill and we were tired.  This section of the canyon is about 7,000 feet above sea level and breathing is more difficult at this altitude.