It is also fairly cold up here and we have to put on hoodies but being a hardy Brit Jane is still in her shorts.
The Native Indians call the tall mounds of stone Hoodoos (people turned to stone by a Coyote god). We get loads of great photos.
After lunch on the road we drive on to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We park up and view the smaller Roaring Springs Canyon first then walk 100 yards to the Grand Cannyon itself. It is totally awesome. I thought it would just be a large barrier where you could look over into to canyon but we are surprised to find that there are lots of trails and quite dangerous climbs you can make to get a better look into the canyon.
Being late afternoon there are no crowds and we are able to climb around to our hearts desire. I did feel a bit sick when Jessica got up onto the rock above as I realised there was just a sheer drop over the back of it into the canyon.
We were able to spend quite some time at the canyon as we had gained another hour today and were now on Pacific Time as Arizona does not observe daylight time.
Before leaving we attended a talk about the Californian Condor. This bird became almost extinct in the 1980's but numbers are now improving. They are quite an ugly bird a bit like a turkey vulture but larger. They have a nine foot wingspan. However, they only lay one egg every two years and do not have much idea of nest building. The survival rate for chicks is only around 30% so I don't see numbers increasing much any time soon.
Eventually it is time for us to leave the canyon to find our accommodation for the night at The Jacob Lake Inn. We have rented a tiny log cabin in the woods and it is extremely nice despite its small size. We have dinner in the nearby Jacob Lake Inn Motel and then go to a very informative talk about the Navajo Indians.
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