Grand Canyon miscellaneous

Throughout our time at the Grand Canyon, we saw lots of Mule deer - with their adorable big, flappy ears - families of elk, some friendly Pinyon jays, and the aforementioned Ravens.

Without fail, walking along this trail from camp to the shuttle or Rim - morning or evening - we would be startled by these guys (alone or en masse)...

...and would stop and enjoy our shared presence. There is something magical in the casual encounters one has with nature at the Grand Canyon. 

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We are began a series of impressions of leaf and other flora that continued at each campsite. This was a great activity for young and old - from venturing out to find objects to shading their outlines - and a terrific way for Evelyn to contribute to our travelogue.

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The magic word of the Grand Canyon was, "Maps". Evelyn couldn't walk by a map or placard without asking, 'Wheah ahr we?' or authoritatively pointing, 'We ahr deah'. On our drive to Tusayan and eventually Las Vegas, we gave Evelyn one of our Grand Canyon park maps, and spent the rest of the trip talking about where we are and the animals she saw listed on the back side. We may have unrooted her inner cartographer: only time will tell...

One 'map' Evelyn most certainly heeded was...

...but I cannot understand why people needed to have squirrels eat out of their hands! What makes wild squirrels cute is how they jump across branches; how they chase eat other up and across trees; and how they use those teeny tiny little hands to nibble nibble nibble around an acorn: all things that can easily be enjoyed from afar. I just never understood the crowds of three or four people huddling around a squirrel, trying to coax it five inches from their faces to take a close-up.
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We could obviously not evaluate this until after our trip, but the Grand Canyon contained the most diverse population of visitors in our entire trip. It was incredible to hear the varying tongues, see the varying clothing, experience the varying ways people from all other the world enjoy this treasure. Like birds in a meadow, we flocked from shrub to twig, acknowledging our shared presence and pursuing our simultaneously common and unique paths. It was invigorating and inspiring to feel at one with so many thousands of people at once in such a boundless place at the Grand Canyon.