Tag 249: Grand Canyon National Park

The alarm clock rings. 8 o'clock. It's fresh. We crawl out of our tent and warm ourselves in the rays of the still young sun. Breakfast, tent down, cold outdoor shower, and off we go. Excited, we drive to the 'Grand Canyon National Park'. We pass the checkpoint and arrive at the first viewpoint, the 'Watchtower'. The first view of the immense, probably most famous gorge in the world is breathtaking. Speechless, we try to comprehend the enormous dimensions. The 'Colorado River' has carved a 450-kilometer-long and up to 1800-meter-deep gorge in the rocks here over millions of years. Figures are nice and all, but it's hard to grasp what that means even when you're standing in front of it. There's so much to see that we actually don't see anything. Overwhelmed by the sight, we need a few minutes. When we can move again, we try to capture this natural wonder in photos, which is not really possible, and return to the car. We drive to the park's own village and park our car. We continue with one of the three shuttle buses. We decide to explore some of the viewpoints on foot and hike along the cliff. The view to the right is gigantic. We encounter some birds, unfortunately no condors, many squirrels, and a handful of deer. We keep walking, enjoying the peace and the view. The weather is beautiful, it's warm, and the nature is unique. Suddenly, I see some movement in the bush at the roadside. It's not a deer, it's smaller. I think it's a mountain lion. Curiously, I approach and look into the eyes of a lynx. Not impressed by me, the rare predator turns away and continues deeper into the forest. Calmly and deliberately, I follow and lose sight of it. I can hardly believe it. I feel honored and walk back to Sabrina to tell her about it. We continue walking along the gorge until we reach the end of the road, at the historic 'Hermit's Rest'. For the return journey, we take the shuttle bus. We want to drive to a recommended viewpoint by car to enjoy the sunset. Unfortunately, we are too late and somehow in the wrong place. Frustrated, we decide to go back to our campsite in the forest and come back tomorrow. Said and done. We set up our tent, it's already dark. The starry sky is beautiful. We make ourselves comfortable in the tent, relax, and reflect on the incredible day in our thoughts.