Grand Canyon North Rim Day 3: Getting Up Early

Sleeping in a tent is always a tricky hit or miss deal for me.   Sometimes the cold hard ground has me turning uncomfortably and just aching for day break.  At other times, the cool morning air that envelopes my tent, combined with my warm downy sleeping bag, makes for a quite a cozy little nest, where the sleeping is easy and daybreak comes much too soon.

On this the third morning of my Grand Canyon North Rim camp-out, my little nest was cozy and warm when my watch alarm jarred me out of my slumber at 4:00AM.   Arrgh.  A couple of my fellow hearty-souled camp-mates had agreed the night before to catch the golden sunrise at Cape Royal Point, some 25 miles from camp.  So an early start was required.      Problem was, I could hear droplets of rain drizzling on my tent.  Not good.   Nonetheless, one by one, the early morning crew got up, grabbed our gear and off we went.   The drizzle continued.

We had breakfast at the trailhead under a pine tree.  The drizzle didn't stop.    We headed out to the Point and waited for the sun to come up.  Eventually it did, ever so slowly under a blanket of heavy clouds,  muted and grey, accompanied by a lens fogging mist.      Somehow, through the mist, a spec of orange and a bright rainbow appeared, and I managed to squeeze off a few shots.

Here is my meager wages for my early morning's effort.   Not bad.  But I wished Mother Nature has saved the rain for any of the other 364 mornings.  She wins.

Sunrise Raindow - Cape Royal GC Nat. Park

The rainy morning gave way to a wonderful afternoon and a spectacular sunset.   So after a long day I went to bed a much happier camper.

Next time, I will be talking about my Photo Compositing experiments.  "What's that?"   Come back and visit to find out.

Cheers

D.