Grand Canyon in the morning

theramblers88
Sep 13, 2019
2 min read

7/10

Five in the morning comes around pretty quick, but it had to be done. We wanted to see sunrise at the Grand Canyon! And beat the crowds.

So up and at ‘em, and off we went. We left from Williams, Arizona “the Gateway to the Grand Canyon.” This town is right on Route 66. The canyon was about an hour drive straight north from town.

Well, we missed sunrise, and for good reason. Along the road, grazing on the shoulder, was a good size bull elk. Across the street were four others. We pulled over and got some photos. This was exhilarating.

Then into the National Park. No wait; just drove in. Admission is $35/car, but we used our National Park pass and got in for free. We arrived around 6:30ish and got the first parking spot!

A short walk and then................the grandest canyon we’ve ever seen! It, indeed, lives up to its name. Because of the early morning sun, the colors were striking, the reds were bright, the oranges were brilliant, the blues and greys were awesome. You get the picture. It was fabulous.

We journeyed down the South Rim trail (practically alone) and stopped off at several viewing spots. We took lots and lots of photos and videos. The lack of people made the place serene, peaceful, and spiritual. It was as if we were the only ones on Earth experiencing the wonder before us.

As we headed back toward the visitor’s center, the tourists were arriving. We heard so many different languages, mostly German. Off to the visitor’s center to watch the 20 minute film and get my Route 66 and National Park passports stamped. Then the park store to buy a hat pin.