Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Spent the past two nights at Canyon Gateway RV Park in Williams, AZ, 58 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The weather was looking iffy, and we weren’t sure about the campgrounds in the national park, so we just decided to stay here and take a day trip to the Canyon. This is another Passport America park, with tax we are paying a little over $21 a night for full hookups. We can see I-40, but we’re far enough off the highway for the noise not to be an issue.

The weather looked decent yesterday, highs in the low 50’s, cloudy, but no rain, so we drove to Grand Canyon National Park. This must be a fairly slow time there, as we encountered very little traffic, and tolerable crowds, mostly foreign tourists.

We were dressed for the cold this time, so we hiked a few miles west along the RIm Trail, with mostly cloudy skies, but as we walked back, the sun came out for a little while. It is truly hard to describe the vastness of the canyon, the colors, the beauty. I’ll let a few photos do the talking.

 

 

 

 

We also had a very productive wildlife viewing day. One big horn sheep, a herd of elk, birds, and lots of these rock squirrels, which I read are the most dangerous animal in the park. We watched a poor woman getting harassed by one as she tried to eat. They just about climb up your leg if they think you have food.

This sheep was eating the shrub, then would walk to the edge and look down like it was thinking of going there. It finally just sat down to rest.

 

This elk herd caused a big traffic jam.

This Western scrub jay would never turn around. Jim isn’t a very patient photographer, so many of his animal photos are of the back side.

It was a short day at the Grand Canyon, but we had fun, scoped out the campgrounds, and definitely want to go back and stay in the park the next time.