The Sun Sets On Another Season..

Today was my last full day to work at the North Rim this season. It was a beautiful day, with a cloudless sky and tempertures around 56 degrees. 

 

As the shadows got longer, I felt a little bit sad that it is over, but happy thinking about my memories of the summer here. 

 

It was a wonderful, almost perfect sunset, with the only clouds I saw all day turning pink, red and purple over the meadow beyond the entrance station. 

 

What a great way to end my season!

 

I won't be wearing the uniform again until next year. And so, we will be moving again soon. In about a week from now, we'll be on way down the road.

Scenic Sunday

I came upon this family of deer on the road to the Widforss Trailhead this week. The deer up here are wild, but they don't seem to be as skittish as other deer as they didn't run off as soon as they saw me. Instead, they seemed to pose for me. 

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First Snow Day Of The Season

When the alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m., I thought I heard the soft pattering of snow on the roof of the trailer.  I jumped up (OK, I slowly got up and grumped about it some) and looked out the front door to verify that it was, in fact, snow. Yep, snow. On October 7.

 

My duty station this morning was the entrance station. I was surprised to see the buffalo out in the meadow in the snow, because they haven't been around in more than a month. They are usually gone back down to House Rock Valley by this time. 

 

Sunrise over the meadow on the Kaibab Plateau. How beautiful is that?

 

The snow came in showers, and snowed like crazy for about a half an hour at a time. A couple of times it was coming down so hard and fast that it covered the road. 

 

But, then, a half hour later, it was all gone again, and the sun was peeking out. The forecast high was 52, but I don't think it got there today. That wood stove really came in handy today.

 

This is looking across the road from the entrance station, to the parking lot. 

 

And here I am playing in the snow, um, er, I mean working. Isn't that a cute outfit? I was glad when my shift was over, so I could go home, get a blanket, a cup of hot tea, and a gluten free cookie!

Scenic Sunday

Autumn colors on Hwy 67 at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on Tuesday, September 29, 2009. The colors came on fast and disappeared just as fast, but for the short time they were here, they were fabulous! Yellow aspens among the firs and ponderosa pines.

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What A Great Day!

As if this:

 

Or this:

 

Or this: 

 

Or even this:

 

Were not enough reason to call it a good day, someone came by my work station today and brought this:

 

She said she had had a visitor who left them behind, and she would not ever eat them, so she gave them to me.

And then, another co-worker came by a few minutes later, and brought this:

 

A half dozen home made chocolate chip gluten free cookies. Okay, I ate three of them, and they were yummy!  He said a friend of his is starting a gluten free company in Tucson, and when she came to visit she brought these for me. Well, by then, I was feeling really extra special and very loved.  And then, another person came by and brought this:

 

She had been down to Flagstaff, and was shopping at Frontier Foods, and when she saw their gluten free aisle, she thought of me. And that Cranberry Pomegranate juice? Because she knew I had that kidney stone last week, and just wanted me to have it. 

People, I am so high on this spontaneous show of love from these people!  I can't tell you how good this made me feel today.  I can hardly wait for tomorrow...

Becky and the Parents, Day Four: The Grand Canyon

After our whirlwind trip around southern Utah and northern Arizona, we were back home at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We took Becky on a tour of  Cape Royal and Point Imperial. We stopped on the way up to Cape Royal and took a short hike over to Greenland Lake. The lake was dried up this late in the season, but the hike was still gorgeous!

 

 

Becky on the trail to Greenland Lake

 

That's the lake, all dried up this late.

The next stop was Cape Royal, at Wedding Point. There are Becky and FabGrandpa near the edge. The day was very windy but sunny and nice. 

 

The view from Wedding Point.

 

Looking over the edge--it's a long way down there!

 

Gorgeous, as usual!

 

 

Walhalla Overlook--that light brown crescent near the center of this photo is the Colorado River.

 

  

This is Mount Hayden, at Point Imperial. 

 

Another view from Point Imperial

 

That night we had reservations for dinner at the restaurant at the lodge. The view from there at sunset is awesome!

 

This view is from the veranda at the rear of the lodge, at sunset. Oooooooo, Ahhhhhhh, awesome!

 

That was our last night with Becky. She left the next day around noon, headed for Las Vegas to spend the night before returning to Atlanta.  We all shed tears as we said our good byes. We really enjoyed our visit, and all the sights we saw.   

4-Wheeling to Point Sublime

Sunday morning FabGrandpa and I got up early, thinking we were going to get the laundry done and relax for the rest of the day. Then Mark, our neighbor, came over and asked if we wanted to go out to Point Sublime.  I have been wanting to go out there since we got here last year, but it takes a 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicle to go. The road is a very rough service road, that is not maintained.  The 18 mile drive takes about an hour, so the round trip of 36 miles is a pretty good half day trip. 

 

Mark's Jeep only seats two people, so another friend, Dennis, went too. I rode with Mark, and FabGrandpa rode with Dennis.  The photo above is the beginning of the road, just past the Widforss Trail trailhead. 

 

 

We drove through forest, then meadow, then thick forest again. There was a huge hawk soaring above us in the meadow, but I didn't get a chance for a photo. 

 

This meadow is more rocky than other ones I have seen here so far, and the road through here was very bumpy. 

 

 

It was a perfect, beautiful day--about 70 degrees, a slight breeze, sunshine and big puffy white clouds.  Thats Dennis's truck up ahead of us. 

 

We stopped at a scenic point, a narrow fin of rock jutting out into the canyon. It was a gorgeous view, but not at the end of the road yet. That is Mark and FabGrandpa out there on the fin.

 

 

Yes, of course I went out there, too. I'm not afraid of heights at all. 

 

After a short break, we were back in the vehicles to go the rest of the way to the end of the road. The view out there really is sublime!  

 

 

If you click on this photo to make it bigger, you may be able to see the water. I think it was the Colorado River, but not sure. This view is awesome--that point is covered with trees, they look like shrubs from here. 

 

This was a view from the edge, looking back towards the road.  I like this photo, the sky was so beautiful that day!

 

 

Dennis and FabGrandpa just enjoying the view.  Yes, standing on the edge, again.

 

I know I keep saying this is gorgeous, beautiful, and awesome, but I can not think of any other way to describe it. 

 

 

Point Sublime, at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. 

 

And yes, that is me, sitting on the edge of the world, at Point Sublime, while the laundry waits for another day.

 

And eventually, we had to leave, and head on home.

Scenic Sunday

This was taken at the entrance station to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on Friday, September 4, 2009. A thunderstorm was coming in, with lots of big, dark clouds. 

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.