El Condor Pasa ...
was once again found a campsite for the night, despite the late hour, to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park :
Who then is the name of Pink Sand Dunes Coral: 
And on the go to the Grand Canyon! 
Do not believe the pictures it seems that all the time all alone on the road, but no, once every 45 minutes you meet someone or read it anyway; -) 
parking on the Grand Canyon (or there to blow it is by no means the only), I complete my collection of photos "God Bless America" by a variant rather funny: 
And now the famous Grand Canyon (from the South Rim, the North being closed at this time): 
The view is impressive, although it is a little hazy, but again it does not look like the image I had in mind ... I imagined him less "relief", much like Canyon de Chelly, but bigger. 
is one of the most touristic places we visited (with Monument Valley and Yosemite I think). Many Asian tourists, sometimes surprising ;-) 
Again there are a variety of viewpoints, but we see only a tiny part of the canyon, which is over 400 km long, between 6 and 24 km wide and up to 1600 m depth. 
Just after our arrival we were given a a small storm, with good rain, the canyon was then filled with fog 
So, not too interested in getting the tent in the rain, we went for a drink in the city at the southern entrance to the park until it calms down. In the souvenir shops there are always things preppy ;-) 
It was installed at Mather Campground, located near the South Rim Village . It was quite cold at night (we do not make it so it counts, but the South Rim is about 2000 m altitude). 
the morning, we monitored during breakfast (good is not a condor, just a crow!): 
and we went for a little walk, the car starts to suffice! It is well marked throughout not to try to get to the bottom of the canyon and back in one day (of course 1600 m depth is not nothing!), And down to camp someone told us that need to book several months in advance ... 
Well anyway we had not planned to go down! Personally, I much enjoyed the Grand Canyon down there that points of view. I do not know if it's the effect "is expected so to something that is incredibly disappointed "but I was less impressed than I thought at first (this is probably due to the weather and the influx of tourists). For cons, the day the walk it was very beautiful, and as you might expect, the number of tourists who make a trip is nothing compared to the number of visitors. And when it descends into the canyon, it becomes much more aware of his immensity, we see many more colors, etc. ... 
Grand Canyon works with solar energy ;-) 
And it is populated by small rodents well accustomed to visitors, and on the lookout for any food (one of them even took our picnic to break from our box of cream cheese between the teeth!): 
A canyon is more treacherous than a mountain, because it starts off ... 
must never forget that after he amount will redo everything! 
After 600 m down (in altitude), it was decided that it is not bad for the day, and it grants itself a hearty picnic (we even managed to pick the cream cheese, but not !): 
And there, you feel small ... 
Here we see the path down the canyon. It goes much lower than what you see here, the canyon becomes narrower then so we do not see the lowest part: 
Going back, we see a Bighorn Sheep (sheep) that lies in the sun: 
back up the canyon, we are moving towards a view where you can see condors . 
The California condor is the largest bird of the United States (2 m 80 scope). He was threatened mainly because of hunting and poisoning resulting from ingestion of lead in the bodies of animals. They were reintroduced in 1992 in Arizona and California but many died of lead poisoning (same cause), and they ontbeaucoup difficult to reproduce in their natural environment. They are therefore highly protected (they are numbered, this is what you see white on their wings). And finally, of course, a little prayer.
Tomorrow is changed completely universe, because going to Las Vegas! NB: there recently on a platform that can go above the vacuum Canyon (Skywalk the ), but it is much farther west, in the Hualapai Indian. Personally, I am a little skeptical about this kind of ultra-tourism facilities in natural places (like the helicopter tours in the Rockies ), but hey each his own :-)
Bryce Canyon 
