Grand Canyon: Thursday

We stretched out our last day by staying until 2:00 -  great, except we had a nerve wracking drive home through night time thunderstorms, bursts of high winds, and heavy rain squalls.

Lookout Studio, built in 1914, has four levels, and like other Mary Colter designs, seems to rise out of  the same rocks it is made from.  Her designs respect the environment and are sensitive to the
culture of the area. 

Nearby, we spotted a Cassin's Finch.

This is Ron Brown, a Park Service geologist.  His geology tour was very engaging, funny, and directed to all ages.  We learned that the Grand Canyon was once at or below sea level, but the whole area lifted mostly as one piece.  This is important because all the rock layers are in chronological order with the oldest at the bottom.  He said this is unlike California, which is a mess.

We walked with him a few hundred yards along the rim until we came to an area of limestone rich in fossils from an ancient sea bed.  That is a clam fossil above.  Ron worked in retail for twenty years after high school, then went to college to study geology, earning his masters.  He never got less than 100% on all of  his tests.  Now he works as a geologist at one of the best places in the world to study the history of the earth.

He told us if we went a little ways down the Bright Angel Trail we would see pictographs just under the rim.  There is a deer in the middle, as well as other less obvious pictographs to the left and lower right.

This was quite a hail storm as we drove about twenty miles east to see the Desert View Watchtower.

This is the 70 foot high Desert View Watchtower.  It was literally a highpoint of the trip.  Designed by Mary Colter, it has commanding views of the desert and the Grand Canyon.

This is the base level.  We loved the use of the canyon rocks.  It was built by Hopi workers in three years - wow!

One of the views from the tower.

The inside walls have traditional Hopi inspired artwork.

Some of these symbols are on the dishes (designed by Mary Colter) at the El Tovar Restaurant.

One of the many viewpoints inside and out.

One of Gail's favorite designs.

Driving back through the park is this sign.

Somewhere around Kingman, Arizona we saw the sunset and distant thunderstorms we would meet later.
This wraps up our trip.  We are excited to see more parks such as Arches N.P., Canyonlands N.P., and Bryce Canyon N.P.  -  home of the movie  Thelma and Louise, which we re-watched yesterday.