Friday, September 22, 2006
We were up around 6, had breakfast, packed everything up and were on the trail a little after 7. It was another beautiful day for hiking with mixed clouds and sun with cool temperatures. I started hiking with my sweatshirt on but it was not long before I had to get rid of it.
I was hoping for some more Kaibab squirrel sightings on the way back and saw one but could not get anywhere near close enough for a photo. I talked with someone on trail and they said they had seen numerous squirrels over at the north rim campground so I decided to check that out before leaving the park.
We made great time going back and only made a couple of really brief stops; once to get rid of sweatshirts and once to chase a squirrel. We were back at the parking area just a little before 10.
As we were driving past Harvey Meadow on the way back to the main road something on the other side of the meadow caught my eye, something that looked like a cave opening. On closer inspection it was rectangular in shape and looked more like a doorway in the cliff face. Intrigued by this, I parked the car and we walked across the meadow to check it out. It was a stone cabin built beneath an overhang in the Kaibab limestone. I have no idea why it was there or who built it.
Before leaving the park we drove over to the campground to look for Kaibab squirrels. We found not a single one but we did find lots of birds.
We were out of the park a little after 11 and headed up to Bryce Canyon for a couple of days. Photos from the trip up to Bryce Canyon can be found here.
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Packed up and ready to go - Widforss Point, Grand Canyon, Arizona
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Ponderosa pine - Widforss Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona
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Rock cabin - Harvey Meadow, Grand Canyon, Arizona
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Mountain chickadee - Grand Canyon, Arizona
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