Today started very early. When I checked the sky at 6:15, all I could see was stars. That meant getting up for sunrise. Carol decided it was too cold to stand out in the cold, so I was out of the room and heading for Mather Point by 6:30. It was pitch black when I left, but by the time I reached Mather Point, there were already hints of sunrise in the eastern sky. I parked the Explorer and got all my gear set up before hiking over to the main overlook. There were only two people there when I arrived, so I was looking forward to a great sunrise.
Then the three tour buses arrived! We were suddenly deluged with tourists, filling nearly every inch of the overlook. The peaceful sunrise ideal was gone and any hope of moving around the overlook as the light shifted was also gone.
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It was actually a pretty good sunrise with high clouds along the eastern ridges lighting up. But when the sun rose and lit the formations, I was in the wrong place to photograph them well. The good news was that it was cold enough (31) with a biting breeze so people started leaving as soon as the sun cleared the eastern horizon. Within 30 minutes, I had the overlook to myself. The good lighting was long gone, but I had a chance to play with a few panoramas. I won't make the mistake of shooting sunrise at Mather Point again. It's a good location, but there are far too many people there to enjoy the experience.
From Mather Point, I drove over to Yavapai to shoot a panorama there. The eastern portion of the view was all dark and the western portion was broken by trees along the rim trail. The stop was a bust.
After Yavapai, I drove over to the Western Rim Drive to Hopi Point to shoot panoramas there. The lighting wasn't great, but there were only a few people there and I had no trouble getting my panoramas. By then, it was 9:00, and I figured Carol would be up and about. I returned to the warmth of our room and breakfast.
After downloading the morning's images, Carol and I finished driving the Western Rim Road that we had started yesterday. Pima Point was our favorite with its views into the Colorado River as it starts its turn to the north. We finished our road tour at Hermits Rest and then drove back to the room for lunch.
We hadn't been to the Visitor Center yet, so it was at the top of the list for the afternoon. At the Grand Canyon Association bookstore, we discovered they have a Adopt-a-lion program to support research into maintaining a mountain lion population at the Grand Canyon. We've been adopting bighorn sheep in Zion for a number of years and thought this was a good way to support the Grand Canyon. We noticed a mountain lion crossing sign along the Eastern Rim Drive yesterday, but didn't know if they were serious or not. It turns out they are serious and there is a mountain lion population along the South Rim.
We checked out Grand Canyon village after the Visitor Center, but didn't find any t-shirts or Christmas ornaments we wanted to take home. By that time, the sun was starting its downward arc, so we returned to the hotel to get warmer clothes. We decided to shoot from Pima Point, which turned out to be a major mistake. By the time we got there, the ridge that includes Pima Point was already shading the canyon from the sun. We each got a couple shots off before the sun was off the canyon formations for good. We stayed around to shoot the sun setting, but it was a missed opportunity. Sunset during the winter needs to be from the overlooks earlier in the road: Maricopa Point, Powell Memorial, or Hopi Point.
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