Late Night to Arrive - Early to Arise at the Grand Canyon

Despite our best intentions, it was not in the cards to make it to the Grand Canyon before sunset. We did, however, have some beautiful sunset shots through the burned out trees as we made the 40-mile trek from the highway into the National Park - arriving way after dark. ((Thank you Uncle Tom for the handy hand crank flashlight -- without it we would have been stumbling through the dark and probably have fallen into the Canyon))

We checked into the Lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and promptly grabbed some food, some drinks and headed out to the deck to star watch. We were told that the deck "overlooked" the Canyon. So we sat, looking out into a black abyss and admired the millions of stars and even saw some shooting ones. What we wouldn't find out until morning is that if we had happened to have tripped getting up from our chair we would have enjoyed a 800 ft drop to the bottom of the freaking GRAND CANYON. The Lodge is literally perched on the edge. If you haven't been to the North Rim, we highly recommend it.

So, since we missed sunset, we were determined to catch the sunrise. The 5:15am wake-up call came early, but since we are both so hard-core we were up and on the .25 mile hike to Bright Angle Point to fully appreciate the majesty of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. We scored a prime spot at the highest point we could find - making several octogenarians very nervous with our precarious perch - and camped out for an incredible natural light show. We were speechless (who? us?) as we took in the indescribable beauty of the sun rising over the East and gently painting the Western wall with delicate pink light. 

What an incredible way to start your day. Remarkably, just 24 hours before we were a world away, watching the sun come up on the Vegas strip. It was hard to believe that was just yesterday. 

As the sun climbed higher in the sky we headed back to the room for some photo downloading, some electronics charging and a quick nap. Then we packed up our stuff, grabbed some breakfast and made a beeline for Cape Final -- the hike that came highest recommended by our favorite desk guy - Jon.