Sunrise
on Tina's Journal (China), 19/Oct/2011 07:53, 34 days ago
We had a very early start this morning to catch sunrise at about 6.40am in the Grand Canyon. Mex took us down to a rock promontory overlooking the Canyon where there were no other spectators. As the sun starts to rise its rays hit the rocks and the colours become alive. I sat quietly just watching it all enjoying the moment.Just before sunriseThe effects of sunriseAfter a hearty breakfast we all decided which treks we were going to do. I and two others opted for a trek right into the Canyon from South Kaibab Trailhead. It's a 6mile trek, 3 down and 3 up.On the way downHas we gradually descended along the sandy path I was amazed at how the colours in the canyon changed. When you look down into the canyon from the rim you can see a layer of light green rock but as you go further down the green becomes much darker and there seems so much of it.Trying to capture the green colourI asked Mex about this and he says one theory is that it is due to algae as the canyon was under ocean millions of years ago.The slippery descent to Skeleton Point took about 1 hour 40mins. It was less slippery coming up but more strenuous and took just over 2 hours with the sun blaring down. It was well worth doing and a great way to experience the Canyon.