I was up at 3 am, several hours before the crack of dawn, to head up to the Canyon for sunrise. I could have probably waited until 3:30. I got there too early and it was very dark going down the trail to Cedar Ridge. I should have brought a flashlight or headlamp but I didn't think of that and ended up doing it by starlight alone. It was quite beautiful actually as the stars of summer are out in the wee hours of the morning now and the Milky Way was stretched across the sky from one horizon to the other. The scent from the Ponderosa pines was intoxicating and everything combined to make for a wonderful trip. I got to Cedar Ridge at 5:15... 45 minutes before sunrise. The stars were still out when I got there and I got to watch them all fade away into the new born day. The sunrise was glorious.

After sunrise I stayed around for a while as I had the place to myself and I wanted to relish in that as long as possible. I wandered about on the ridge snapping photos for about 30-45 minutes longer before heading back up the trail. I went all the way to the top without stopping which tells me I am in pretty good shape for the upcoming backpacking trip.

Then the only bad thing that happened today occurred... the El Tovar was closed for renovations. Boo Hoo. No Sonoran eggs, breakfast burrito or breakfast quesadilla for me... not on this trip. I made do with breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge and it was still very good.

After breakfast I went back to Flagstaff for a while to take care of some things there. I finally got in touch with my ranger friend, Chuck, and it looks like we will not be hiking together though we may still run into each other down there at some point. He is starting his trip a day ahead of me but we may end up meeting on Sunday at Nankoweap Creek or the river. He is still going down the same route as me so I asked him to place some cairns if he finds any tricky spots.

Then it was back up to the Canyon for more photo opportunities and sunset. I went over to Yavapai Point because I was interested in seeing if Cheyava Falls was running. It was. I had my 500mm lens with me so I took some pix of that as well as some other things from there, super close-ups of Plateau Point and Phantom Ranch and some of the inner canyon temples and monuments.

I went out to see sunset from Desert View, something I have never done before. I checked it out with my topo maps and astronomy software this afternoon and discovered that the sun would be setting way down canyon from there and should make for some interesting shots. It was fabulous.