Can you make out the tiny people on the rocky outcrop in the foreground? It must be an amazing feeling to be standing there, assuming you’ve got a head for heights.
The natural grandeur seems to exert a powerful influence over creatures as well as humans. I’ve already posted a different shot of a blue bird surveying the canyon from this wonderful tree snag. If the branch starts to give way, the bird should be able to fly off into the canyon below.
The mountain goat’s in a trickier situation but seemed equally fascinated by the drop. The pictures aren’t great as I didn’t want to scare it: though clearly used to humans, I assume they can still be startled, just like us. In the second shot, the deer is aware of me, but still has a dreamy look.
The effect of weathering made some of the rock formations look as if their days on high were numbered, yet there’s at least one man standing on the edge of the precipice. I’m no adrenalin junkie but can imagine this place being rather too tempting for those who are. Very little of the site is fenced or inaccessible if you’re fit enough to climb.
We had planned to arrive at the canyon in plenty of time to catch the sunset, which we could see would have been glorious even from the highway. As we got held up in traffic, we had to ‘make do’ with the dawn. Hardly a tragedy!
Shared for this week’s photo challenge.
Susan Rushton 
Those deer shots in particular are wonderful! Great post.
Eliza pointed out that it’s a mountain goat. I do remember seeing goats scrambling down the sides of the canyon, but I hadn’t remembered them being quite so elegant.
Oh! I wouldn’t have guessed that!
Beautiful photos, Susan! Those are mountain goats, btw. 🙂
Thanks Eliza – I’ll correct that above, so I don’t mislead people. They’re not like the kind of goats I see in England.
No, not like the domestics at all. 🙂 The billies can become huge and in winter have big fluffy coats.
Timing of the light was perfect for this beautiful picture. I would never have seen the people if you had not pointed them out. (I hope you won’t mind a bit of my theology coming through. The people look insignificant, but it was they for whom Christ died – not the beauty of his grandeur.) .
It was well worth getting up early.
Excellent shots. Such beautiful detail.
Thank you.
Wow! Stunning pictures Susan, you’ve really caught the light beautifully. I love the contrast in colours of the feathers in the bluebird picture with the yellow-green leaves against the background.
Our blue birds are nothing like that – but then our robins are very different to those I’ve seen in the USA.
These are just the most beautiful shots of the Canyon and all the wonderful beings that live there. Thank you for this most glorious gift!
Sadly, I do not have the courage to step out on ledge like that. My vertigo would send me right over the edge.
Fim
There was a fairly thick book telling the story of all the people who had fallen in. I was expecting that the touristy bits would be fenced off, but it is nice that it’s open.
I hiked and backpacked the Grand Canyon but never seen mountain goats. Lucky you. The photos are great!
Now that does sound like an adventure – I’m sure that way you’ll have seen many things that I missed.
What an adventure! Beautiful images
Thanks, Julie.
It is an incredible place and so difficult to photograph! Lovely shots of the ‘goats’ – I’d say they were probably desert bighorn sheep though. Look like ones I saw in Zion NP. And why do crazy people stand so close the edge? One false move, crumbling rock, breath of wind and… gone! We saw people doing this with snow on the ground so you couldn’t even see the edge!
I’ve got to paraphrase here as I haven’t got the book with me, but you’ve reminded me of the Japanese love poem that mentions being like a blind man who is unafraid of the dark.
That’s really astute.
Unusual perspectives and scenes. Wonderful blogsite, photographs and prose!
Thanks for stopping by.