Grand Canyon: Fauna

Although the main attractions of the Grand Canyon are, of course, the vistas, the park boasts some interesting fauna as well. One thing you adjust to when living in the desert are the reptiles. Especially the lizards. Recently there have been baby lizards, only about 2-3 inches long, skittering away from me when I walk along the sidewalk near my apartment. We saw plenty of lizards in the Grand Canyon as well, and these two didn't scamper off quite so quickly.

According to the National Park Service, there are 41 species of reptiles in the park, including 18 lizard species. I believe the one above, shown closer below, is an ornate tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus), which are common in this area.

Identifying lizards reminds me, oddly enough, of identifying fish, especially those in coral reefs. Specifically, coloration is often unhelpful and even misleading. You have to look for underlying morphological characteristics because coloration can vary wildly from individual to individual, and sometimes even a given individual's coloration can change over time or depending on location and lighting.

I think this one is a western whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris).

There were a variety of birds in the park, big and small. We saw many swallows, including some that nested on the cliffs of the canyon. Unfortunately, we did not see the largest birds in the park, the California Condors, which have been reintroduced to the park.

The largest birds we saw were a few hawks, probably red-tails or maybe cooper's, swooping past overhead. And of course, ravens (Corvus corax). Although they are abundant, especially in national parks, I always enjoy watching them. The ones around our campsite were particularly talkative, which was especially amusing.

This gorgeous scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) was hopping around very close to the so-called trail of time, which follows the rim near the geology museum.

Undoubtedly the most impressive fauna we saw were two elk (Cervus canadensis), who were walking calmly through the trees along the side of the road one day as we drove past. It's remarkably easy to forget how large they are until you're face to face with them.

Number one...

Followed by number two...

And at the other extreme, there were the astoundingly adorable cliff chipmunks (originally Tamias dorsalis, now Neotamias dorsalis). Somehow their cuteness never wears off.

And then, of course, there were the squirrels. This one was foraging in the shrubs adjacent to one of the major hiking trails, paying us no attention at all.

Yum!

As is unfortunately common at parks, many of the squirrels had clearly been fed by people and were far too tame and bold. One, in particular, was so unafraid of us that while we were sitting and taking a break on our hike, climbed onto our backpacks in search of food.

In addition to the fauna pictured, we also saw mule deer along the road into the park, just past the entrance, and we think we saw a bobcat cross the road one evening in the dark. But alas, no photos. One of many reasons to return in the future!

Grand Canyon: Flora

We had fun spotting flowers around the Grand Canyon. There was quite a variety of types and colors and especially as the week went on, we enjoyed finding ones we hadn't seen yet.

I'll start with the Mexican cliffrose (Purshia mexicana) you saw in the last post. They are large shrubs covered in these delicate yellow flowers. There was a section of the rim, west of the village, along Hermit's Road, where there were so many of them that you could smell them in the air as you walked or biked along the trail.

Another shrub with distinctive flowers was the cliff fendlerbush (Fendlera rupicola). It has four white petals with large gaps between them, looking a bit like a Coptic cross or a compass rose.

I think this trumpet-shaped flower is an Arizona firecracker (Ipomopsis arizonica),  but it could also be the closely related skyrocket or scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata). 

This light bluish-purply flower with darker veins is called blue flax or Lewis flax (Linum lewisii).

At first I thought the flower below was another species, given the apparently more distinct petals and the different appearance of the foliage. But I think they are, in fact, the same species, just at slightly different stages.

I love the common name of this subtle little bloom: Miner's Lettuce. Scientific name: Claytonia perfoliata. 

This delicate little flower is a bush pea (Lathyrus brachycalyx). 

This desert phlox (Phlox austromontana) looks very similar to other species and varieties of phlox I've seen around the country.

 My best guess for this one is a toadflax penstemon (Penstemon linarioides). What a name, huh?

This pretty orange flower is some sort of globemallow (genus Sphaeralcea). 

I'm least sure about this one. The petals look like a desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata), with the three-pronged ruffled edges, but the center looks too small proportionally, and there don't seem to be enough petals. But I don't have any other good candidates either, so I'm a bit stymied.

Here's the brilliant and iconic Indian paintbrush. Although I'm again unsure of the species, my best guess is Castilleja chromosa, the desert Indian paintbrush.

We saw many blooming agave plants, often just a little ways into the canyon.

I've always had a special affection for prickly pears (I blame the Jungle Book), but I didn't realize until I moved to Arizona just how many species of prickly pears (genus Opuntia) there are. They also hybridize, making them even more difficult to identify. Most of the prickly pear blooms are yellow, but some are orange or red, like these.

Here you can see on the newer pads, along with the spines there are tiny fleshy leaves. You can also see several buds in the background.

Fauna up next!

Grand Canyon: Hermit's Rest Road

We took a break from hiking with a bike ride along the western portion of the south rim, following Hermit's Rest Road.

Cope Butte in the foreground, with the Colorado River peeking out behind.

The road is mostly closed to private vehicles, which makes it a good ride--both because it's quieter than the other roads in the park and because biking gives you a unique way of viewing this entire section of the rim. There are various official viewpoints as well as many opportune places along the rim where you can view the canyon and river from different perspectives.

Hermit Rapid is generally considered a class 8 rapid (on a 1-10 scale), although it fluctuates along with the water level.
It's hard to tell from here, but apparently the waves can sometimes reach 20 feet (6 m)!

The point jutting out from the right side of the photo is called "The Alligator".

I mentioned before that many of the features in the canyon are named temples, with various references to Asian and Middle Eastern religions. Here are a few more of them.

In the center is Zoroaster Temple, with the larger Brahma Temple just to the left.

This is the Tower of Ra...

And this is the Tower of Set.

Here you can see the Tower of Ra on the left, then moving right (east), the white-topped Osiris Temple, Horus Temple,
and in the center of the photo, the Tower of Set again. Beneath them you can glimpse the river.

Granite Rapids, another one of the more difficult rapids.

More on flora soon, but here's a sneak peek, with cliffrose (Purshia mexicana) in the foreground.

Here are a couple close ups (relatively) looking into the canyon, rather than all the way across it.

Here you can see the yellow Bright Angel Shale, the Tapeats Sandstone cliffs just beneath it,
and finally the Vishnu Basement Rocks, the lowest layer of the canyon.

Here you can see the aptly named Redwall Limestone above the Bright Angel Shale.

Here's a panorama I stitched together in Photoshop, looking from the left/west/downstream to right/east/upstream. (You can click on the photo to view it larger than shown here.)



Most of the photos I've seen of the Grand Canyon seem to explicitly avoid getting any of the rim or vegetation in the photo. This may make for majestic canyon views, but it also misses an interesting component of the landscape, the way the canyon suddenly falls away from the flat plateau.



The endpoint of the road and ride is Hermit's Rest, another building designed by architect Mary Cotter. The ride was 21 miles round-trip, and mostly not too steep, except for the grueling half a mile with a 6% uphill grade early in the ride. It was both fun and exhausting!