Colorado Plateau Trip (South-East Rim of the Grand Canyon)

We awoke in Bonito Campground to frost on our tents and a cold breeze blowing off the nearby mountains.  I had forgotten to check with someone who had a copy of the schedule of duties for our trip and had slept in, unknowingly neglecting my group's turn to prepare breakfast.  After everyone had their fill of oatmeal and bagels, we made up for our mistake by doing the dishes and cleaning up instead of the scheduled group.

We headed out and stopped to take another picture of San Francisco Mountain and then began our drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at Desert View.  It was a relatively short drive (83 miles) and although we saw a few minor canyons on our approach, it was relatively plain scenery with a slight climb in elevation as we approached the Grand Canyon.

We parked in the huge lot for the Desert View visitor center and walked to the observation point.  Speaking personally, every time I see the canyon for the first time, it takes my breath away.  Its size is just staggering, and its colors are so varied that it seems more like a work of art than layered strata.

I found myself frustrated by the hazy conditions of the canyon that day because, due to the winds of the moving cold front that just seemed to follow us, dust was picked up in the turbulent conditions.  Still, it was sunny and warm enough to truly enjoy the magnitude of erosion and time that lay before us.

Our guide and teacher Dr. L discussed the roughly 1° dip of the Kaibab limestone (shown in the photo, possibly exaggerated due to my poor photographic skills).    He pointed out for us where strata pinched out and where new layers of rock appeared as you looked further down the canyon to the West, and reminded us that the river once flowed North-East (shown by reversed dendritic features of the Colorado outside of the Grand Canyon in the picture below).  We had a view of John Hance's old asbestos mine.  My peers presented posters on the the general canyon and on caves and waterfalls within the Grand Canyon, especially in the Muav and Redwall limestones.

No comprehensive trip to the Colorado Pleatau could ever be said to be complete without visiting the Grand Canyon, and although I'd been there once before it was still as amazing to see it at another visitor center.  This visitor's center was really interesting because it had a watchtower which, although under construction, an amazing view 70 feet above the ground.