Karen and I stopped at Lees Ferry to see the Colorado up-close on our way back from the North Rim this afternoon. The brown, muddy water is from the Paria River that comes in near the boat launch. There were heavy rains on Friday and you could see where the erosion on the red cliffs fed into the river. Our trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was well worth the long ride. Although when you stop to take pictures around every bend it adds to the journey. We left about 5:30 AM in order to see the sunrise. Saw a coyote along the road out of the park. Stopped at Navajo Bridge and caught a close up glimpse of the Colorado River there...very green. The ride on 89A passes the Vermilion Cliffs and although I took pictures you just can't capture the colors. The road winds up a deep canyon ascending to over 8000 feet. The ride into the park is beautiful and reminds me of the Poudre Canyon in Colorado. Open meadows with lots of ravens and a small herd of bison. Karen wanted to get out and pet them. Needless to say I talked her out of that one. They had a campsite for us and told us where is was. I thought it must have been for emergencies because it didn't have a picnic table or fire ring...just a grassy patch between the roads through the campground. We set up the tent and went down to the visitor center and the Grand Canyon Lodge to see what it was all about. It became obvious that we were going to get a bad storm so we headed back and took a nap until it blew over. Decided to hike the Transept Trail that runs along the rim from the campground to Bright Angel Point. It turned out to be a glorious afternoon and the hike was a nice journey through Ponderosa pines and Aspens with breathtaking views of the canyon. We made it to Bright Angel Point and if you knew my fear of heights you would never believe that I made it to the end. Pictures to prove it. Got back to the campground and met our neighbor who informed us that we were in the island between the roads and our campsite was to the left...picture for this one too. After a good laugh with him and then the camp host Karen and I picked up the tent and moved to a much better site with a table and fire ring!!!