I am fortunate to have been able to visit the Grand Canyon again, for the second time in 12 months and 5th time overall.

I arrived at the canyon on a stormy summer afternoon. After a brief rain delay during which I consumed a meatball sub for lunch, I set out to walk around a little.

Right away, I made two friends.

I wound up taking about a 3 mile walk along the South Rim Trail. I am generally not a fan of paved hiking trails, but since I was strolling haphazardly in flip flops, I didn’t mind too much.

Storms threatened to return and there were some gusty winds, but it never rained more than a few drops once I started walking. The threat of storms kept the number of other walkers to a minimum, and allowed me the chance to enjoy some quiet in what I have usually found to be one of the busier National Parks in the states.

One quick tangent for America: we need to go to the parks! The vast majority of visitors are NOT from here. I ran across Italian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Spanish, and others.. but very few Americans (I would say outnumbered 4-1). Put down the video games and turn off the TV. Go outside! I’m sure you can find some Pokemon there anyway. End tangent.

I’ll keep this post brief because this is a place where elaborate descriptions are simply vain. No writer can put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and truly capture the experience of standing on the rim on the canyon. This certainly does not preclude millions of gaping mouth tourists trying. They simply can’t capture the feeling of the vastness of the canyon or the slow changing in color as clouds move and light shifts. They can’t do justice to the sight and sound of a thunderstorm raging on the other side. A review of my photos leaves me disappointed because so much of what I experienced is absent.

But here are some of my favorite photos anyway. I recommend viewing full screen if you can. Enjoy!