Thursday, July 29, 2010

Overwhelmed by the logisitics involved, I backed out of the one-night camping adventure we'd planned:  spend Sunday night on the East Rim and hike into North Canyon early Monday morning.  Switching to Plan B worked out well because we had pleasant weather for the hike on Sunday and, by going to Kanab the following day, were able to avoid the heavy rain on Monday.

Normally, hiking in the canyon in July is a hot, dry, dusty undertaking.  However, the route Fred selected was a lovely exception--we were in shade for at least 60% of the way and a good portion of the trail paralleled running water (so rare out here), a creek fed by North Canyon Springs.  We were surprised and delighted by the abundance of wildflowers--geraniums, monks-hood, rattlesnake plantain, milkweed, violets, etc.  Well worth the 2800' of elevation change the hike required!

The state of our larder dictated a trip to the grocery store on Monday.  To make that familiar journey seem less like a chore, we treated ourselves to a pancake breakfast at Jacob Lake Inn and a side-trip to Pipe Spring National Monument, a Mormon fortified ranch of the late 1800s.

Since our visit in 2007, the visitor center exhibits have been up-graded and the gravel paths have been replaced with concrete walkways.  The outdoor demonstration venues--cooking, blacksmithing, gardening, arts and crafts--have also been spiffed up.  We enjoyed a presentation by Paiute woman   explaining how she makes pigments from the area's plants, soils and rocks and uses them to paint hand-built pottery.

As we sat by the spring-fed pond waiting for the house tour to begin, Fred started to react to something in the air.  Since we'd had the tour in 2007 with an excellent Native American guide, we decided to skip a repeat and go on to Kanab.

Along the way, we had a stunning photo op.  You'll see that Fred's pictures captured the towering cloud formations and the strikingly colored cliffs and buttes below them.  That was the view to the north; 180* from that spot the skies to the south were ominously dark and threatening.  Driving back to the Kaibab Plateau, we saw rain clouds all around us and evidence that it had rained heavily back at the store. 

Evidently, Monday's storms kicked off the 2010 monsoon season.  Dark storms clouds invade morning's sunny skies and build to produce impressive but scattered storms of thunder, lightning, driving downpours and plunging temperatures by late morning and frequently continue throughout the afternoon.

Up-dates:

--The buffalo are spending more time in the meadows bordering the road.  We saw a herd just outside the park on Tuesday.  They were very mellow; not even the approach of a family of tourists disturbed their grazing and relaxing.

--We caught another mouse (#6) over the weekend.  I think he was seeking warmth rather than food.

--We are 2 weeks away from our last day of work--10 workdays and 4 days off to go.  Although I will miss this beautiful and very special place, certain inducements of civilization (large, private bathrooms! a full-size refrigerator! a washer and dryer that don't require coins! a grocery store only 10 minutes away!) are exerting an irresistible lure of home.