Day trip to North Rim of The Grand Canyon with Margaret and Richard

We saw today the first signs of autumn with the aspen turning their gloroius shade of yellow.

                                                                Our next adventure...

"The hills are alive" with...not with the sound of music, but with yellow aspen

A little reflection on the windshield but still the yellow shows through.

Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim

The central entrance to the Lodge.

The view off the back terrace.  It's hard to see the mountains (the far rim) for the trees.

A few less trees in this view.  Actually the Colorado River Canyon, known as The Grand Canyon, is on the other side of the 'mountain' in the distance.  This is Bright Angel Canyon.

Another view from the Lodge terrace of Bright Angel Canyon.

The view from front to back of the main entry into the Lodge.  The Native American rugs hanging on the walls are magnificent.  Notice all the native stone work and lodge pole pine beans.

The dining room, down a few steps and to the right of the main lobby.  Again, handsome Native American rugs on the walls.

Margaret, Richard, and me in front of the cage for check-in, probably original.

Back out on the terrace, the view to the west, still with Bright Angel Canyon's south rim in the distance.

The views are so different in each direction...this is eastward.

We went down this road 11 miles, looking for The General Store, where we were to meet my friend Annie for lunch.

                                                                    

We came 11 miles back up this road from the Park entrance station to meet Annie.

We finally found her, and we had a very short visit over lunch...she had already given up and eaten her lunch.  Annie and I worked together in the Gift Shop in The Tetons.  She had stopped in Zion, and we had a good visit when she was on a  "Road Scholars" tour.  She is working a weeks contract at The North Rim Gift Shop.  The North Rim, which is 10,000 ft. in elevation, closes October 15.

On Fuller Canyon Road to Point Imperial another riot of color from very small and young aspen, which have sprouted since a fire.

We've been down and then up to arrive here.

The close-up view from Imperial Point, looking one direction.  You just can't get away from the red rocks,'hoodoos', cedar and spruce trees, and multi-colored bands of aged rock.

The distant view.

Quarter turn right...

and quarter turn right...

These views seem so vast, it's hard to believe they are of only a tiny protion of Utah/the USA/our Earth

The views are in layers of distance...

This would make a good "Paint by Number" endeavor.

Recorded for posterity: Richard and Margaret Ashworth and Peg Pickens were at Imperial Point, North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday, September 25, 2011.

A little windshield in the corner but more aspen "in bloom"

Even the ferns turn yellow.  They are not to be outdone by the trees!

I just can't get enough of the bright yellow of the "quaking aspen", and especially since I hear that the leaves all will be brown and mostly fallen from their limbs when I get back to Tennessee.

Okay, I'll try not to bore you with anymore brilliant yellow...and did I mention the complimentary blue sky?

Leaving North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Re-entering Kaibab National Forest through which we travel  42 miles to Jacob Lake and along the top of a ridge for about 12 miles before dropping down very quickly en route another 25 miles to Kanab, just inside the Utah border.

Clouds for Carol

More clouds for Carol

If you look very closely just to the left of the center of the photo, you will see a little pronghorn sheep's white tail end and just to his right is a large one looking straight at us.  Unfortunately, there was no time to zoom the camera from the moving car (I wasn't driving).

Even though the lighting wasn't ideal, this is the best picture I have gotten so far of this huge amphitheater just west of the tunnels.

"Fire on the mountain"

Sunset in downtown Springdale. 

Margaret and Richard could get the guest room in the dorm at The Lodge only for first part of their visit.  They moved to a cute little renovated '60s motel in town, and this sunset was made from the grounds of the motel.

Looking down the yard of the motel toward the street, you can see how private and secluded it was.

Note the rock "mountains" in the background.  We're still in Zion Country.

We discovered this Mexican heather on the back border of the motel property.  Note how well its colors coordinate with the colors of the rocks in the background.

Gathering sunset.  Even this view of the sky with the threatening clouds is awesome.

The clouds in the West are different from our cloud formations back East.

Love the silouetted mountain in the foreground.

The sun reflected red on the bottoms of the clouds.

The sun has set, evening is nigh, and Margaret and Richard are relaxing on the lawn of their motel after our long day trip.

They leave in the morning for the last day of their Utah experience to fly out of Las Vegas.

It was wonderful having Margaret continue her visits to my Park Adventures and Richard to begin his journey with her.

Where will we go next?  Stay tuned.

BUT I'm not leaving yet, so there are more adventures in store for me... and more visitors.