Still photos from the Grand Canyon

In my previous post I put up some videos shot from the helicopter flying out from the South Rim on a gorgeous day.

I took some extra time to drive into the National Park itself, so I could stand on the edge of the canyon and look out over the vast scene. I love standing with my toes curled over a thousand-foot drop!

Yavapai Point is one of many along the South Rim which are uncrowded in the morning before the tour buses arrive. Since nobody else seems to want to join me out here on the edge of the cliff, I have the best position for taking pictures all to myself.

The view is immense, I apologize that it is impossible to do more than hint at the scale of what you see here in any photograph:

From the helicopter, everything changes. You soar out from the rim and look down on the meandering river and the steep cliffs lining the canyons: Unlike standing on the cliff, you fly over mile after mile of canyons and cliffs.

We followed the river, and some of the cliffs reminded me of Toroweep over on the North Rim, where the drop from the cliff-top to the river is 3,800 feet--straight down!

Wheeeee! As I said, this is the kind of view that brings on delusions of grandeur. Please check the post below this one for the short videos taken from the helicopter. This is a blast!!

Helicoptering over the Grand Canyon

Well, the plan worked perfectly. A quick drive from Vegas over to Williams, Arizona, and then North 50 miles to the South Rim portion of Grand Canyon National Park. I climbed on a helicopter at the national park airport:

We soared out over the Kaibab National Forest and out over the rim. By the way, anyone who thinks we don't have a lot of trees--or a lot of space--in this country should take this ride.

The flight is a difficult experience to describe in words, but a video clip does it all. It is during moments like these when one envies the eagles, who do this in silence and solitude, and do it every day.

On the other hand, you have to eat rodents. Oh, well....

Flying around in a noisy, throbbing bubble over scenery like this is a privilege. Given my health history recently, I don't take this or anything else for granted. That just makes it all the richer.

I hope everyone I know can do this flight. It is profound and thrilling !

Did anyone notice the full Moon?...

My early-morning walks always get me out when the full Moon is still high enough to photograph. You have to bring the luminosity down just a bit to see some detail, and of course we always see precisely the same side...

Nice place to visit, but looking at all those impact craters, you wouldn't want to live there.

Having said that, I hope it never loses its magic for me!

Please scroll down to the last couple of posts on Red Rock Canyon!

More from Red Rock Canyon

Yesterday, I posted a couple of videos taken in Red Rock Canyon. Here are some stills, to show that this park in my back yard is as spectacular as ever. First, here's the outcrop of sandstone known as Calico Rocks, where visitors can climb right to the top!

While Calico Rocks is on the East side of the park, there are colossal sandstone and granit cliffs which rise on the South side:

There are some rough dirt roads hikers can take to get closer to the cliffs, and even climb on them. For the photographer, tey are an opportunity to get a bit closer!

It's really shameful how easily we photographers are thrilled!

I think of it as my childish innocence...

Please do look at the earlier videos!

Spring in Red Rock Canyon

After a long, cold Winter, medical science now has me ready for some new adventures!

To warm up and build up my strength on our first hot Sunday, I drove out to Red Rock Canyon to watch large numbers of hikers, bikers and climbers enjoying the day.

Despite the heat, the hikers and bikers were taking on grueling distances under that Sun.  You can envy the climbers, though they are too tiny to see in the video below--they are on one of the most colorful climbs in America--Calico Rocks. This formation is near the entrance to the park, one of the first stops you encounter upon entry.

 Now, on to Arizona and Utah for a busy season of adventures!

Home is where the, um, heart is...

Had to pause for a bit of heart maintenance. Had a catheter ablation last Monday, in which the surgeons inserted slender blowtorches and burned out some extra electrical circuits from inside my atria.
The procedure took my upper chambers' beat from 120 to 60. Much better (the understatement of the year)
. To celebrate, I drove over to Hoover Dam on a gorgeous warm day and looked out over Lake Mead:

On such a day, the view from up on the bridge is almost perfect:

What a pleasure to be out with a camera again!...