| Some folk got up early to
repeat the exercise with the dawn. |  |
 |
They were not alone although I think the numbers were smaller. |
| The elk were out in force
with the alpha male on the left keeping all his females close together. |  |
 |
He was quite a magnificent specimen, much larger than the campsite guard the
night before. |
| .. |  |  |
| After breakfast we set
off along the rim, partly on foot and partly by the canyon shuttle buses -
you are not allowed to use private cars in this part of the park. |  |
 |
The building is at the top of one of the paths down although it is difficult
to see from this angle. The path to North Rim is about 27 miles although
only about 7 as the crow flies. |
| There are toilets and
respites with water along the route. |  |
 |
The cliff top trail is marked every few yards with a plaque showing
prehistoric time. It goes from now until around 4500 million years
ago. The actual path is much longer. |
| The trail twists and
turns as you descend just over a mile. |  |
 |
The north rim with the hotel and visitor centre just visible at the top.
This will close in the next month until mid May. The north rim is over
1000ft higher than the south rim and 237 miles away by road. |
| There is still some
colour by the cliff path. |  |
 |
On the right you can just see the path as it starts the climb from the
Colorado river towards the north rim. |
| Panoramic views showing
the multiple layers which the geologists can name and date. |  |
|