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23rd Oct 2005
In search of Randy ...
Sunday, 23rd October, 2005
We were all up and out sharp this morning to see the sunrise from between Mather and Yavapai point. Probably not a great sunrise by Grand Canyon standards … probably due to the season. I would guess that in the mid summer the sun rises and sets flooding straight along the canyon. At this time of the year there’s quite a lot of shadow on the south canyon walls. It takes nothing away from the effect of standing on the canyon rim and watching the red glow of light gradually creep in, but from a photographic standpoint, its not optimal.
Bizarrely the bulk of tourists (mainly oriental) all stood facing the rising sun watching its spill through the clouds and photographing the canyon in silhouette. It was only after quite a time, that someone turned around and saw the effect that the light was having down the canyon that the whole crowd shifted from the east railings of the look out to the west railings. It was however a very silent gathering … with only the occasional click and whirr of a camera, the flash of a, err ... well, a flash and the occasional “Ahhhhhh, Soooo” from an excited onlooker.
I abandoned hope fairly quickly and also abandoned the outlook but managed, about a couple of hundred yards up the canyon to join a French contingent who had climbed out off the path and onto a little promontory … it takes a bit of European rebellion to get the best of the views …
A couple of minutes later, standing by my tripod, (alone), in reverie of the changing lighting, I was joined by an American father and son (oh no, they’re going to want to chat!).
I tried the old turning-the-back-and-pretending-to-focus-routine (which has served me well over the years), but … no, not this morning. The opening line set the scene; “Wish we could get everyone to be as quiet as this in church …”
There was a slightly uncomfortable silence which I filled with a muttered “Errrrr, yes” before finding a particularly difficult section of canyon wall to photograph, from which it was impossible to disturb me.
Back down to Tusayan for breakfast in an internet café. We were served by a veritable Mr. Happy, who turned out to be Slovak. Any trace of a sense of humour had been well nipped in the bud … but his coffee was OK and the chairs in the café quite comfortable … so we were there for a while.
We regrouped briefly at the hotel and then made plans to get out along the shuttle bus trail to Hermit’s Rest along the rim to the west of the canyon village. The trip out was uneventful. We jumped off at Hopi Overlook, which is spectacular and then off at Pima and walked the remaining Rim Trail to Hermit’s. This wasn’t without a certain amount of complaining from Anne who felt that the trail was too narrow; as it transpired we’d got our selves off the tarmac road, missed the official trail (large, graded and without a view) and found a little desire line right on the edge … probably a bighorn sheep track … anyway, we did it and it was great.
Lunch at Hermits Rest was not great … but just about sufficed; we cleared out as soon as possible.
Nailed to a post nearby there was a missing person poster for the unfortunate, but improbably named ‘Randy Rogers’ … so we spent a bit of time keeping a look out for him.
Back on the bus we had a tyrantess of a bus driver, who berated people who stood up, had a go at a cyclist she passed and generally scolded anyone who poked their nose anywhere near the bus before passengers had alighted.
After this we needed to get ourselves back to the hotel for a relax in a steaming hot tub … the boys swam and then we just vegged in the sun for a while.
The assembled and motley crew in the car were by now getting the hang of the ingratiating park rangers in their jaunty uniforms and were devising questions to ask as we approached the park booths. There was usually just sufficient break in the collective mirth to show the passa nd drive on quickly before things got out of hand. "Is this the right way for Yosemite?" "Are there any real bears here?" "Has there been any break through on the case of Randy Rogers?" Time for a sharp exit.
The sunset plan involved the El Torvar, which we hadn’t managed to book (and certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford anyway) and we parked nearby and then walked along. It was heading for a very ordinary sunset except that Bright Angel Canyon – straight opposite on the north rim, was filled with rain cloud and as the sun dipped, it lit up a rainbow. We all snapped away at it and then at the clouds which the sun lit from below the horizon to the west.
Snooped around the hotel a bit inside, checking out what we were missing (not much!) and then we retired back to Tusayon to the ‘Yippee-ei-oh’ Steakhouse (Oh dear…you see what we’ve stooped to?)
Well, in fact, it was fantastic. It was going like a fair; we had a great evening; served by a real life cowboy, complete with Stetson !
The mugs were a novelty; they were a screw-top jamjar with a handle clapped on the side. Great service and great food … so good in fact that it was a struggle to finish. We had a quick check through all the people in there (probably 120 or so) in case Randy Rogers was amongst them … and then retired to the same intricate, if not intimate sleeping arrangements.
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