Pictures by Kirk Fratzke (May 2005) 

South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
• Select thumbnails to view larger images and captions •

Kirk at Entrance Sign	Mather Point	Kirk at Mather Point	Beehive Rock Formation
Grandview Point	Snow in May	Tusayan Ruin	Deseert View
Watchtower	Art on Ceiling of Tower	Tower Window	Lipan Point
Colorado River at Bottom of Canyon	Lookout Studio on Rim	Indian Garden and Plateau Point	View from Rim Trail
View from Rim Trail	Paved Rim Trail	Kirk at Yavapai Point	Kirk and Amy at Yavapai Point
Setting Sun from Hopi Point	Sunset at Hopi Point	Visitors Watching Sunset	Rock Formation on South Kaibab Trail
Cedar Ridge on South Kaibab Trail	Ooh-Aah Point on South Kaibab Trail	Kirk Hiking on South Kaibab Trail	Steps on South Kaibab Trail
Switchbacks on South Kaibab Trail	Switchbacks on South Kaibab Trail	Yaki Point	Colorado River in Granite Gorge from Prima Point
Iris Temple	Hopi Point	Setting Sun from Hopi Point	Sunset at Hopi Point
Sunset at Hopi Point	Bright Angel Canyon	Hoover Dam in Black Canyon	Dam Spillway
Dam Intake Towers	Dam Powerhouses	Lake Mead NRA	Kirk at Lake Mead

More Grand Canyon
Photos from September 2003

Helpful Links
Grand Canyon National Park - Official NPS Website
Xanterra Parks & Resorts - Official Concessionaire
Lake Mead National Recreation Area - Official NPS Website
Hoover Dam - Official Bureau of Reclamation Website

• Got up before sunrise to drive to Minneapolis
• Hopped plane to Las Vegas
• Meet Amy in Las Vegas airport
• Picked up rental car
• Stopped on way out of town to eat lunch and pick up snacks
• Got out of Las Vegas with out gambling a single cent
• Drove U.S. Highway 93 across Hover Dam then south
• Then took I-40 east through Arizona
• At Williams, AZ got on U.S. Highway 180 and headed north to the Grand Canyon
• Made the drive (not counting stops) in four hours
• It was 35 degrees Fahrenheit and snowing when we arrived!!!
• Grand Canyon fogs in when it snows, no sights to see, getting dark anyway
• Checked into cabin at Bright Angel Lodge and Cabins and had dinner at the restaurant

• Got up early (kind of), Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings time so the sun came up at 5:30 a.m.
• Weather was still cloudy and kind of cold so bought some sweat shirts at the gift shop to keep warm
• Checked out a couple of viewpoints (pretty hazy) and stopped by the visitors center
• Decided to head east along the rim road to Desert View (25 miles away)
• Weather was starting to clear up by the time we got there
• Visited the indian ruins and went up to the observation deck at the top of the watchtower
• Made our way back to the rim village and had lunch
• In the afternoon we walked the rim trail for a few hours and got some great views of the canyon
• Had an early dinner at restaurant again
• Went out to Hopi Point to watch sunset

• Had breakfast today to get energy for hiking
• Decided to hike down the South Kaibab Trail
• Got to Ooh-Aah Point (1.5 miles round trip, second half all up hill)
• Went a little further and the trail narrowed and the ledges got steeper
• Started to relive my mule ride adventure to the bottom from a year and a half ago that scared me to death
• Decided to turn around and head back UP...Huff, puff, puff
• Switchbacks are our friends right?
• Had lunch at cafeteria, you think we would have learned our lesson at Yellowstone about these places
• In the afternoon decided to go west a little and took tram out to Hermits Rest and stopped at viewpoints along the way
• Came back to cabin and changed cloths to go watch sunset at Hopi Point again (gets cold real fast after dark)
• Had late dinner with terrible service at the restaurant
• With no lights to spoil the view star gazing is beautiful at the Grand Canyon, plus the air is thinner at 7,000 feet

• Took a few picks in the morning before starting the drive back to Las Vegas
• Two full days is perfect length to visit unless you want to do some serious hiking all the way to the bottom
• Stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut along the way
• Got to Hoover Dam in the early afternoon
• Walked around and took some pics, very windy out
• Changed cloths in overlook parking lot right next to bus load of tourists, just a wee bit warmer in the Las Vegas area than it was at the Grand Canyon
• Got into Las Vegas and drove Amy up and down The Strip to point various places out to her since she had never been there before
• Parked at the Monte Carlo and enjoyed a drink
• Walked around to a few of the casinos
• Time to gamble...lost $40 playing roulette at NY NY, made it back at Monte Carlo :-)
• Had dinner at the hotel and then took Amy to the airport
• Turned in the rental car (actually an SUV, am I becoming a yuppie bastard?) and waited the 3.5 hours for my redeye flight home
• Got into Minneapolis just before 6 a.m. and then drove home - Yawn
• Home and in bed by 8:15, slept the whole day away, haven't been the same since

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