One place where we did stop was a scenic view/State Park kind of thing. It provided really nice views of the valley through which we had just come. We also looked at some native American jewelry, some of it was quite nice.
The photo below shows three or four layers of roads that provided a switchbacked interesting drive climbing out of the valley. 
Once out of the canyon we encountered more typical high desert terrain 
After a while we began to see sign of mountians in the distance.
At Flagstaff we saw this steam locomotive that Karen was just able to shoot as we drove by.
Up north of Flagstaff and into the mountain range we began to see some snow left over form the winter. 
Further on we saw more desert.
When we got to the visitors center at the Grand Canyon there was evidence of impressive amounts of snow. 
We hiked about 4-5 miles along the canyon rim and eventhough the sun was high and the color was a bit light there were spectacular views. 
We would occasionally take a "we were here" photo 
There are several places where it is possible to hike from the rim to the bottom of the canyon. most of these hikes require a bit of commitment and reservations to stay the night at accomodation down in the canyon. 
As the day wore on the sun angle allowed for a bit more color. 
In the photo below is a shot of the Colorado River that is at the bottom of the canyon. There are opportunities for rafting the river, which we did not have time to do.
We stopped to a break and ate a quick lunch of some cheese and trail mix that we brought along. 
These two photos show one of the trails leading to the river. 
The trails were long and a some locations quite steep. Having hiked part way into the canyon several years ago I can say that the hiking here is agressive, and you need a lot of water with you. It is also quite hot.
Along the rim trail we came to an area where there were several buildings including these shown above and below. The one above is a recreation of an early local dwelling. The one below was a studio that was built by an artist that did paintings of the canyon. It is now a gift shop. 
This was another artist's residence. Pretty nice views. 
Late in the afternoon we headed to the eastern end of the canyon. The sun was continuing to drop and shadows began to appear. 
One of the last place we stopped the color and shapes looking to the west were beginning to become monochromatic, but still amazing is scale.
Looking off the east you can see the overall land form into which the canyon was carved. 
After leaving the Canyon park on on our way back to the cottage we stopped a couple of time to observe the subtle colors that were showing up along the upper parts of the canyon. 
Eventually we had to just keep on driving to get back. It was a long and rewarding day.
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