BGuthrie Photos: AZ -- Grand Canyon Natl Park -- North Rim -- Scenery

AZ -- Grand Canyon Natl Park -- North Rim -- Scenery:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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[23] GRCNS_120719_0125.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $Bright Angel Fault Looking across the canyon, you can see evidence of a fracture in the earth, the Bright Angel Fault. Stretching across Grand Canyon in front of you, Bright Angel Canyon traces the route of the Bright Angel Fault. Faults are fractures in the earth's crust along which movement occurs. Rarely can you see a fault, but you can see evidence of it. Evidence can be seen here in the displacement on either side of the fault. On the opposite cliff, an offset in the rock layers -- best seen in the light-colored Coconino Sandstone -- demonstrates the shift. The layers on the right of the fault rise about 150 feet (50 meters) higher than on the left. Bright Angel Fault is still active, producing small earthquakes which visitors sometimes feel. Two major trails follow the trace of the Bright Angel Fault (photo below left). Side canyons, which tend to form along fault lines, become convenient routes for access into the Grand Canyon. The North Kaibab Trail follows the fault trace on this side of the canyon; the Bright Angel Trail follows it on the other. Most of the faults which criss-cross the Grand Canyon region (map below) are far older than the canyon itself. Movement along a fault creates a zone of weakness which becomes a channel for erosion (illustration below). Many of Grand Canyon's spectacular side canyons -- like Bright Angel Canyon -- have formed through erosion along zones of weakness which follow major north/south fault.$	[24] GRCNS_120719_0136.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[25] GRCNS_120719_0137.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
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[131] GRCNS_120719_0730.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[132] GRCNS_120719_0734.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[133] GRCNS_120719_0738.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GRCNS_120719_0011_STITCH.JPG: Grand Canyon (northern rim)
2. GRCNS_120719_0052.JPG: Five Rock Layers Grand Canyon's top five rock layers are clearly visible on the opposite cliff. Together they represent 50 million years of ancient environments: swamps, seas, and deserts. Notice that some rock layers form sheer vertical walls, while others form slopes. Shale and siltstone erode easily and crumble into slopes. Sandstone and limestone resist erosion in this arid climate, but shear off vertically as they are undermined by the more easily eroded shale below. Notice in the Coconino Sandstone dramatic evidence of ongoing erosion. In 1991 a large section of the Coconino cliff collapsed and cascaded onto layers below. A wide range of fossils have been found in these rocks, including these reptile tracks from the Coconino Sandstone. Kaibab Limestone -- Shallow inland sea -- 250 million years ago Toroweap Formation -- Sandstone, limestone, and gypsum -- Shallow inland sea -- 260 million years ago Coconino Sandstone -- Windblown sands -- 270 million years ago Hermit Shale -- Swamps and lagoon -- 280 million years ago Supai Group -- Sandstone, limestone, and shale -- Lagoon and tidal flat -- 300 million years ago
3. GRCNS_120719_0069.JPG: Diminishing View: On a clear day the San Francisco Peaks stand bold against the sky. How well can you see the peaks today? Visitors to the Grand Canyon usually expect panoramic views in clear desert air. But air pollutants can drastically impair visibility at Grand Canyon National Park. Clear days allow views approaching over 150 miles. On other days pollution reduced visibility to 70 miles or less. The use of modern emission control equipment on existing pollution sources and careful placement of new industry can help restore Grand Canyon views. We can all play a part by conserving electricity, carpooling, recycling, becoming involved in air quality issues, and supporting local and national policies that recognize the importance of clean air. Pollution Sources: Air pollution at Grand Canyon comes from both local and distant sources. Weather patterns dictate how the contribution of each source changes over time. In summer, pollutants often travel great distances from industrial and urban areas of southern California, southern Arizona, and northern Mexico. In winter, local sources and sources in southern Arizona are more important contributors.
4. GRCNS_120719_0125.JPG: Bright Angel Fault Looking across the canyon, you can see evidence of a fracture in the earth, the Bright Angel Fault. Stretching across Grand Canyon in front of you, Bright Angel Canyon traces the route of the Bright Angel Fault. Faults are fractures in the earth's crust along which movement occurs. Rarely can you see a fault, but you can see evidence of it. Evidence can be seen here in the displacement on either side of the fault. On the opposite cliff, an offset in the rock layers -- best seen in the light-colored Coconino Sandstone -- demonstrates the shift. The layers on the right of the fault rise about 150 feet (50 meters) higher than on the left. Bright Angel Fault is still active, producing small earthquakes which visitors sometimes feel. Two major trails follow the trace of the Bright Angel Fault (photo below left). Side canyons, which tend to form along fault lines, become convenient routes for access into the Grand Canyon. The North Kaibab Trail follows the fault trace on this side of the canyon; the Bright Angel Trail follows it on the other. Most of the faults which criss-cross the Grand Canyon region (map below) are far older than the canyon itself. Movement along a fault creates a zone of weakness which becomes a channel for erosion (illustration below). Many of Grand Canyon's spectacular side canyons -- like Bright Angel Canyon -- have formed through erosion along zones of weakness which follow major north/south fault.
5. GRCNS_120719_0137.JPG: View from the North Rim Below the rim lies an intricate landscape of erosional landforms, shaped by water from rain and snow but untouched by the Colorado River. This on-going process of weathering and erosion is also responsible for the network of tributary canyons that feed into the Colorado River. The river itself is invisible from this vantage. Geologists estimate that it has taken less than 5 or 6 million years to carve the canyon and create the landscape you see before you.
6. GRCNS_120719_0337.JPG: North Rim Lodge "Beautiful new Grand Canyon Lodge, constructed by the Union Pacific System on the North Rim of Grand Canyon... affords a magnificent view of the great abyss and harmonizes perfectly with its sublime surroundings." -- Press Release, circa 1929 Grand Canyon Lodge was a success from the start. As a new attraction in 1928 on the Union Pacific's motor tour route of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, the lodge spurred an instant 60% jump in rail travel to Cedar City, Utah. Its remote location on Grand Canyon's North Rim created a mystique that remains today. The lodge had a rough beginning. Fire in 1932 gutted the original lodge. The replacement (the lodge you see today) was not completed until 1937.
7. GRCNS_120719_0364.JPG: Geology of Grand Canyon: What's the age of Grand Canyon? The rock layers that make up the walls of Grand Canyon range from the fairly young to the fairly old, geologically speaking. Kaibob Limestone, deposited approximately 270 million years ago, forms the caprock in much of this region. The oldest rocks exposed at the bottom of the canyon, gneiss (NICE) and schist, date as far back as 1.84 billion years. Geologists estimate that East is 4.55 billion years old. How can Grand Canyon be young if the rocks in it are so old? While the rocks are old, Grand Canyon itself formed much more recently. Geologists generally agree than canyon carving occurred during the last 5-6 million years -- a geological blink of the eye. Why here and not somewhere else? Beginning about 70 million years ago, the pressure of colliding tectonic plates induced mountain building in the American West. Amazingly, the Colorado Plateau was uplifted many thousands of feet, but mostly spared the tilting and deformation that normally accompany the raising of strata. The section of the canyon viewed from the South Rim cuts through a bulge in the Colorado Plateau called the Kaibab Plateau. "Why does the river cut through the Kaibab Plateau rather than flow around it?" is a question that has plagued geologists since Powell's time. Many hypotheses have been advanced to explain this event. Research conducted today strives to increase our understanding of the origin and evolution of Grand Canyon. How did it become so deep? The goal of every raindrop is to get to sea level. As water drains off the western slopes of the southern Rocky Mountains and across the Colorado Plateau, it carries sand, gravel, and rocks that abrade against the rock layers, cutting down through the ancient strata. Without the uplift of the Colorado Plateau, there could not be thousands of feet of rock above sea level to cut through. From Yavapi Point on the South Rim to the Colorado River is an elevation change of 4,600 feet (1,400 m), yet the river is still 2,450 feet (750 m) above sea level. How did Grand Canyon become so wide? Simply stated, as the Colorado River cuts down, the walls of the canyon collapse around it. A few key weak layers of rock within the canyon are readily broken down by rain and snowmelt and are washed downhill. Stronger layers sitting atop weaker layers lose their support and collapse. Side creeks erode headward, carving tributary canyons that accelerate the widening of Grand Canyon. Over its 277-river rile (446 km) length, Grand Canyon varies in width as the canyon rims are notably jagged. Along the South Rim, the width varies between 5 and 16 miles (8-26 km), depending on where you choose to measure. What makes Grand Canyon so grand? There is only one Grand Canyon. The ensemble of stunning dimensions -- the melding of depth, width, length, color, and form -- sets Grand Canyon apart from all other canyons. Nowhere else if such a dazzling variety of colorful rock layers, impressive buttes, and shadowed side canyons revealed in such a dramatic chasm. Grand Canyon is the canyon against which all other canyons are compared.
8. GRCNS_120719_0386.JPG: Formation of Grand Canyon: The high desert plateau of northern Arizona seems an unlikely place for a major river like the Colorado. But, by tapping snowmelt from the distance Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River carved the canyon and subsequent erosion has enlarged it -- a process that continues today. During heavy rainfalls, distant rockfalls can be heard in the inner canyon -- the sounds of the canyon widening. Eventually, sediment (from fine clays to massive boulders) from these rockfalls is flushed into the Colorado River by a combination of flash flooding and gravity. The river carries this sediment downstream, and as these materials scrape along the river bottom, the canyon deepens. The power of erosion in forming Grand Canyon is clearly seen on the diagram below. This view looking west down the Colorado River corridor shows the North Rim on the right and the South Rim on the left. Note the much shorter horizontal distance between the South Rim and the Colorado. The North Rim is farther back from the river because the Colorado Plateau, the huge upland stretching over parts of the Four Corners states, bulges upward to the north. Winter, both above ground and subterranean, on the higher-elevation North Rim flows to the south, pulled by gravity toward the canyon. Water on the South Rim flows south as well, but flows away from the canyon. The result: a greater canyon erosion on the north side of the Colorado River.
9. GRCNS_120719_0433.JPG: Brighty of Grand Canyon: Burros called the Grand Canyon home long before Congress established it as a park in 1919. Miners brought in the sure-footed animals to haul supplies in and out of canyon camps. Alas, few fortunes were made. The animals were abandoned. The new gold rush was tourism. Opened in 1917, the "Wylie Way" lodge was the first tourist accommodation on the North Rim. William Wylie's daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Thomas McKee operated the camp. Their son, Bobby, befriended an abandoned burro nicknamed Brighty, the hermit of Bright Angel Creek. Bobby and Brighty worked well together hauling water from a spring about half a mile below the rim. Each day Bright's pay was a strack of flapjack pancakes. When not working, the wild burro allowed boys and girls to ride on his back. His charisma was immortalized in "Brighty of the Grand Canyon," a children's book by Marguerite Henry. Although he captured visitors' hearts and imaginations, Brighty and other wild burros competed with native species for food and water. The National Park Service decided to remove burros from Grand Canyon. By 1981, most had been captured and placed in adoption centers. Many believe rubbing Brighty's nose brings good luck to those who admire the wild and engaging burro of Grand Canyon.
10. GRCNS_120719_0513.JPG: From Canvas to Castles: Wylie Way Camp, 1917-1927: Early in the twentieth century, wealthy ladies and gentlemen yearning for a peak at the fabled Grand Canyon found few urban comforts along its northern rim. While visitors on the South Rim relaxed in the luxurious accommodations on the cliff-hugging El Tovar, visitors to the isolated North Rim braved the outdoors in canvas tents. Elizabeth Wylie McKee managed the North Rim's main tourist facility, the Wylie Way Camp, from 1917 until 1927.
11. GRCNS_120719_0518.JPG: Grand Canyon Lodge, 1928-1932: Under the supervision of the Utah Parks Company and architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, work crews labored to build a lodge that harmonized with its surroundings. Advertisements for this "Hotel in the Wilderness" boasted that it "seems to have sprung full-grown out of the canyon wall itself." The cunningly crafted Grand Canyon Lodge opened for business in June of 1928. With the completion of the lodges at Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the North Rim in the 1920s, the Grand Circle tour was born. Stephen Mather, first director of the National Park Service, and assistant Horace Albright worked closely with the Union Pacific Railroad and tour companies to promote the development of these facilities.
12. GRCNS_120719_0521.JPG: Grand Canyon Lodge, A Legacy Rebuilt: A fire consumed the main lodge building at the height of the Great Depression. The September 1, 1932, fire claimed no lives but left only stones. For four years the ruins of the Grand Canyon Lodge stood undisturbed, silhouetted eerily against a magnificent backdrop. Through the severe winter of 1936-37, work crews labored to reconstruct the lodge using the standing limestone foundation. The redesigned Grand Canyon Lodge has a strictly rustic feel more adapted to a winter climate. It features cathedral ceilings and steeply pitched roofs, but preserves one of the primary attractions of the original lodge -- the sun room. You join millions who came before you when you behold the grandeur of Grand Canyon for the first time through the windows of the sun room. The rustic Grand Canyon Lodge is one of the best examples of railroad-sponsored architecture remaining in our national parks. This legacy from a bygone era is preserved today as a National Historic Landmark. Fire damage can still be seen on the limestone foundation.
13. GRCNS_120719_0533.JPG: Greenland Lake -- Karst Topography -- Sinkholes Geologically, the Kaibab Plateau is known as an area of karst topography. This plateau is capped with a relatively thick layer of water soluble rock, the Kaibab limestone. It allows easy passage of water into underground drainage systems. This results in an almost complete absence of surface streams. The precipitation on the North Rim seeps through the limestone and eventually dissolves it. The underground solution chambers that result may collapse and form depressions or sinkholes. Soil and mud run off into these depressions, sealing the bottom, allowing the sink to hold water. Greenland Lake is one of many lakes on the Kaibab Plateau which are examples of this process.
14. GRCNS_120719_0581.JPG: Roosevelt Point: Named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, for his efforts towards the preservation of Grand Canyon. "Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. You can only mar it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American ... should see." -- Theodore Roosevelt, Grand Canyon, 1903 Dedicated July 1996 by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt
15. GRCNS_120719_0585.JPG: Indian Country On the far side of Grand Canyon most of the land you see is Navajo Indian Reservation. Beyond that, on the distant horizon, lies the Pained Desert and the Hopi Indian Reservation. The Navajo Indian Reservation borders the Grand Canyon on the east from Lees Ferry south, beyond the gorge of the Little Colorado River (see map at right). The Navajo people, Athabaskans who migrated into the American southwest from western Canada in the 1400s, were traditionally nomadic hunters and warriors. The Hopi Indians trace their ancestry to the prehistoric Pueblo people we know as Anasazi and they know as Hisatsinom. They have inhabited the lands to the east continuously since before the 13th century. Navajo Mountain lies astride the Arizona/Utah border near the shore of Lake Powell.
16. GRCNS_120719_0652.JPG: Prehistoric life on Walhalla Plateau If you had visited this plateau 900 years ago, you would have encountered prehistoric Indians known as the kayenta Anasazi. They are believed to be the ancestors of the present day Hopi Indians who live east of Grand Canyon. In the winter months, the cold and snow on the rim forced them to inhabit places like the sandy delta of Unkar Creek, where they could continue to farm. During the summer, however, some of the people moved up to the rim to live in seasonal farming communities. Here they grew beans, corn and squash. They also hunted in the North Rim forests and gathered native plants for food, clothes and medicine. Archeologists have identified more than 300 prehistoric sites on this plateau, most of them close to the rim. These ancient farmers took advantage of the warm air rising from the Canyon that provided a longer growing season here than farther back in the higher elevation, spruce-fir forests. About 1150 A.D. these people left the Canyon, possibly because of a decline in rainfall which discouraged farming.
17. GRCNS_120719_0656.JPG: Uncovering the Past During the summers of 1967 and 1968 an extensive archeological investigation was conducted on Unkar Delta. Fifty two Anasazi sites were recorded on the delta, and ten were completely excavated. The largest site contained a complex with 25 rooms. Within the area of the delta tools for hunting, agriculture and woodworking were also found. Unkar Delta was found to contain numerous terraces constructed by the prehistoric people so that they could farm the area. With the Colorado River bordering the Delta, the residents had a constant supply of water to irrigate their agricultural plots. In trying to fully reenact Anasazi life, the researchers found that it was an arduous two-day walk from the North Rim to the delta down Unkar Creek. Archaeologists excavating ruins at Unkar Delta Shell ornaments worn by the prehistoric dwellers of Unkar Delta. Decorated ceramic vessel probably used for food storage. Grough metates were used by Anasazi farmers to grind corn into meal.
18. GRCNS_120719_0665.JPG: Unkar Delta The broad expanse on the north bank of the Colorado River is Unkar Delta, composed of sand and rocks deposited by Unkar Creek. Ancestral Pueblo people occupied sites on Unkar Delta and along Unkar Creek for about 350 years (A.D. 850 to A.D. 1200). With abundant water nearby, Unkar Delta provided a convenient home for these prehistoric people, particularly in winter. Prehistoric remains on Unkar Delta include dwellings and evidence of agriculture. Archeologists suspect that in summer inhabitants of Unkar Delta moved to cooler sites here on the North Rim. More than 3700 archeological sites have been found in Grand Canyon. They are vulnerable and irreplaceable. Laws protecting archeological sites and artifacts are strictly enforced. Unkar Delta and Unkar Creek were home to prehistoric Pueblo people. For a closer look at prehistoric Pueblo life, visit the ruin at Walhalla Glades across the road behind you.
19. GRCNS_120719_0707.JPG: Upper Sonoran Life Zone: Notice how the vegetation here differs from the ponderosa pine forest you drove through. The vegetation on Cape Royal is characteristic of a milder climate. Walk along the trail and learn the plants of this community and the important roles many played in the lives of Southwest Indians.
20. GRCNS_120719_0714.JPG: Big Sagebrush: Sagebrush is probably the most abundant shrub in western North America. The extensive root system is drought resistant, enabling survival in semi-arid conditions. Sagebrush was a valuable fuel for Indians. They also used it to treat colds, diarrhea, and fevers.
21. GRCNS_120719_0720.JPG: Pinyon Pine: This pine is recognized by its short needles which usually grow in bundles of twos. A common tree of the Upper Sonoran Life Zone, it thrives at elevations from 4,000 to 8,000 feet. Pinyon nuts develop in short, broad cones that mature in the fall, after two seasons' growth. These are an important food for wildlife and are gathered by the Indians of the Southwest.
22. GRCNS_120719_0730.JPG: Cliffrose: This tall tree-like shrub is cliffrose, a shaggy evergreen member of the rose family. Its showy cream-colored blossoms and long white plumed seeds are conspicuous most of the summer. Hopi Indians made sandals, mats, and rope from its stringy bark, arrows from the wood, and medicine from the foliage.
23. GRCNS_120719_0759.JPG: Angels Window: Perhaps this dramatic view of the Colorado River through the hole in the rock led to its name. During the uplift of the Kaibab Plateau, stress and strain caused the rock to fracture forming vertical joints that intersect the horizontal bedding planes. Weathering (rain, freezing and thawing) along these planes and joints has eroded a hole in the Kaibab limestone and enlarged it to form the window.
24. GRCNS_120719_0774.JPG: How many pinyon nuts must have fallen on this rock and shallow soil to produce these pines? Seeds are scattered by wind and animals and in many other ways. Only a few of the many seeds land in places where conditions allow them to survive and grow. Growing trees send roots down into cracks in the rock making the rock fracture move. This is a phase of weathering, erosion and soil formation.
25. GRCNS_120719_0783.JPG: Utah Juniper: This tree is usually associated with pinyon pine and cliffrose in the Upper Sonoran Life Zone. The berries (actually soft, fleshy cones) are used by wildlife and by Indians. Indians used the bark to make sandals and to pad cradleboards. Digging sticks and other farming implements were made from the wood.
26. GRCNS_120719_0789.JPG: Misfits? This White fir and Douglas fir appear to be out of place. Normally, these two trees are found at higher elevations where it is cooler and moister. However, below the rim at this point is a shaded, north-facing slope. In this cooler microclimate, these two trees of the Canadian Life Zone can grow.
27. GRCNS_120719_0792.JPG: The small holes in this juniper are the work of sapsuckers. They drill these wells through the bark to the inner cambium layer, eat the cambium and drink the sap that oozes out. They also feed on insects that gather on the sap. The sapsucker, as all woodpeckers, is well adapted to this feeding posture. Stiff tail feathers support it while at work and strong neck muscles drive its bill into the bark.
28. GRCNS_120719_0799.JPG: In areas like this where animals are protected they are often seen along roads and trails. Remember -- they are still wild animals. Feeding them may be dangerous to you and it is not good for the animals. They become dependent on man for food and suffer when man leaves in winter, a time when natural foods are scarce.
29. GRCNS_120719_0808.JPG: Lightning: Afternoon thundershowers are frequent in late summer. The Canyon rim is a natural target for lightning bolts. If you can detect the smell of ozone and the hair on your head starts to stand on end, an electrical charge is building up around you and you should immediately move back from the rim into the trees. Lightning usually strikes the tallest object in the area of a charge. As long as you don't stand under the tallest tree, you should be protected by standing away from the rim under the trees.
30. GRCNS_120719_0917.JPG: Currant: The currant and gooseberry are closely related, both in the genus Ribes. Gooseberries are usually armed with spines and can also be seen along the trail. Ribes serve as alternate hosts for the fungus of white pine blister rust and are removed where commercially important stands of white pine occur. Currant berries are food for birds and small mammals.
31. GRCNS_120719_0920.JPG: Fernbush: The leaves of this plant identify it as fernbush. Other common names are tansybush and desert-sweet. The finely divided leaves are evergreen and browsed by deer. The small but numerous white blossoms appear in August, attracting great numbers of pollenizing insects.
32. GRCNS_120719_0931.JPG: Grand Canyon Vista Many of the topographic features at Grand Canyon bear names like Vishnu and Wotan, after prominent figures in literature, philosophy or religion. This practice of "heroic nomenclature" was begun in the 1880s by Clarence Dutton, one of the first geologists to work at Grand Canyon. With a personal interest in Eastern philosophy and religion, Dutton saw similarities between these fantastic erosional features and the temples of India and China. Francois Matthes, responsible for the topographic mapping efforts undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey at Grand Canyon from 1902-1923, continued this practice. Today these heroic names are scattered throughout Grand Canyon. Vishnu Temple Coronado Butte Horseshoe Mesa -- Distance 6.5 miles 10.5km Red Butte -- Distance 22 miles 35km Wotans Throne -- Distance 1.5 iles 2.4km
33. GRCNS_120719_0946.JPG: The Colorado River Notice the Colorado River in the above. The view here at Cape Royal is the only view of the river from the North Rim. The portion of river you see is 70 river miles below Lees Ferry, the site from which all points on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon are measured. From the section of river you see, it is still another 18 miles downriver (to your right) to Phantom Ranch (not visible), and 207 river miles to Lake Mead and the western end of Grand Canyon. Comanche Point -- Distance 8.5 miles 13.7km Cedar Mountain Colorado River River Mile 70 -- (70 miles below Lees Ferry) Freya Castle Desert View -- Distance 8.3 miles 13.7km San Francisco Peaks Vishnu Temple -- Distance 2 miles 3.2km
34. GRCNS_120719_0996.JPG: Northeast View From this, the highest viewpoint on the North Rim, one has an unparalleled view of the upper reaches of Grand Canyon known as Marble Canyon. Lees Ferry, not quite visible on the horizon, lies approximately where the Vermillion Cliffs (on the left) and the Echo Cliffs (on the right) meet. The Kaibab Limestone forms the surface of the Marble Platform, thousands of feet below. This same rock forms the surface of the Kaibab Plateau on which you are standing, convincing evidence of the uplift that has occurred here.
35. GRCNS_120719_1021.JPG: Southeast View This is an unusual view of an unusual part of Grand Canyon. The opposite canyon wall drops abruptly to the Colorado River; the rim there is merely 3/4 mile from the river. Here on the North Rim you are 10 miles from the Colorado River. This creates a canyon profile found nowhere else in Grand Canyon.
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2012 photos: Equipment this year: My mainstays were the Fuji S100fs, Nikon D7000, and the new Fuji X-S1. I also used an underwater Fuji XP50 and a Nikon D600. The first three cameras all broke this year and had to be repaired. Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Shepherdstown, WV, Richmond, VA, and Williamsburg, VA), a week-long family reunion cruise of the Caribbean, another week-long family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with lots of in-transit time in Ohio and Indiana), and my 7th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including side trips to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. I had a photograph of the George Segal San Francisco Holocaust memorial used as the cover of Quebec Francais (issue 165). Not being able to read French, I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but, hey! And I guess what could be considered to be a positive thing, my site is now established enough that spammers have noticed it and I had to block 17,000 file description postings for Viagra and whatever else.. Number of photos taken this year: just below 410,000.
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