After a few days along the Arizona/Utah border, I continued south west and made my way to Grand Canyon National Park. I had a campground reservation at Mather Campground which is right near the west entrance of the South Rim of the park. It has a very convenient general store and restaurants right near the campground entrance. I was advised at check in to keep my distance from any elk as it was rutting season and the males could be more aggressive than usual. I got to my campsite and walked up to the sign post to verify it had my name on it, and suddenly a young male elk that was laying down, camouflaged into the trees and leaves, stood up about 6 feet away from me. I quickly got back to my car and then snapped a few photos. He didn't seem too concerned with me after that and laid back down and went back to chewing on tree branches.
This was the first of several Elk I encountered here, several came right through the campsite and more across the park. I got to hear some great bugling here which I found enjoyable and peaceful. Abby was fascinated and enjoyed watching them too!
The views of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim are incredible. Reading some of the signs and learning about the history of how the canyon was and continues to be carved out over the years was fascinating. I also took a plane tour which flew over the canyon and provided some more amazing views.
The park also had some great dark skies, so I was able to get out to the Desert View Watch Tower to take some Milky Way photos and try my hand at my first star trails photo (created by taking continuous photos and then overlaying the photos onto each other to show the movement of the stars).
I really enjoyed visiting the Grand Canyon and definitely intend to return, unfortunately due to extreme heat warnings during my visit I wasn't able to hike down into the canyon, but I would love to do that in the future. Even if hiking down into the canyon isn't your speed, there is still a ton of viewpoints along the rim, and a flat, paved bike/walking trail that runs along most of the South Rim of the park.
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