AZ Strip Part 2 (North Rim of the Grand Canyon)

After doing the bird survey by Colorado City, I headed down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (my first time to this part of the canyon). I spent the afternoon doing the short trails/overlooks around the visitor center and up another road to Cape Royal. In the late afternoon I walked the short Cliff Springs Trail and checked out the Vista Encantada overlook before driving up just north of the park/forest boundary to find a camping spot off a forest road. That night was uneventful except the wind blowing all night long, although at least my tent was sheltered by the trees.

The next day I went up to Point Imperial, went to the visitor center area again hoping for looks at a Kaibab squirrel, and then hiked a few miles up the Widforss Trail before making the journey back to Flagstaff. While putting on sunblock at the visitor center parking lot, I looked up to see one of the squirrels running right towards my car. It foraged near my car long enough for photos, allowing good looks at its charcoal-colored body fur and white tail. On the way back to Flag, I finally stopped in at the Jacob Lake Inn to get some of their awesome gourmet cookies, a milkshake, and some dinner. Here are various photos of wildlife, flora, and of course scenery from the North Rim:

Kaibab squirrel:

Views of the big hole in the ground:

Zoomed in view of what I think would be Roaring Springs down below:

 

Zoomed in view of Colorado River rapids down below: 

Zoomed in view of San Francisco Peaks as seen from the North Rim:

Scenery from Vista Encantada:

Zoomed in view of Navajo Mountain in the distance:

Williamson's Sapsucker (male):

Western Tanager (male):

Plateau lizard (Sceloporous tristichus), I think. It's interesting that the ones here at the Grand Canyon are have a reddish coloration that is not present on in other individuals of this species I've seen elsewhere. Maybe an adaptation to blend in better with the canyon walls?:

cliff fendlerbush (Fendlera rupicola, Family Hydrangeaceae):

Mexican cliffrose (Purshia mexicana, Family Rosaceae):

white fir (Abies concolor) with immature female cones:

Ironic sign talking about plant adaptations and how species like white fir and Douglas-fir in front of the sign are misfits in that they can occur in such a dry location based on slope aspect. Well, the dead fir in front of the sign doesn't look all that well adapted now with climatic stressors in play:

littleleaf or curl-leaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus intricatus or C. ledifolius, Family Rosaceae):

Arizona mountain-ash (Sorbus dumosa, Family Rosaceae):

Cliff Springs Trail:

Mosses and vascular plants growing out of cracks in rock at Cliff Springs (notice the minerals forming on the mosses):

Ancient indian granary along the trail down to Cliff Springs:

unknown flower at Cliff Springs:

Greenland Lake:

white variation of larkspur (Dephinium nelsonii / D. nuttalianum, Family Ranunculaceae):

Views from Point Imperial:

Greenleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula, Family Ericaceae). Notice the rounded, oval-shaped leaves:

pointleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens):

Widforss Trail:

Views of the canyon from the Widforss Trail:

 

The place I turned around at on the Widforss Trail had a cool limestone rock outcropping that had tons of fossilized shells (mostly bivalves, but found one apparent gastropod shell) and other prehistoric critters:

rockmat (Petrophytum caespitosum, Family Rosaceae), which from a distance looks like moss growing on boulders:

Acmon blue butteflies (Plebejus acmon) visiting flowers on Fendler's buckbrush (Ceanothus fendleri, Family Rhamnaceae):

 

western green hairstreak (Callophrys affinis):

silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus) on Arizona mountain-ash:

unk. butterfly:

mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus, Family Ericaceae):

red-and-yellow pea (Lotus wrightii, Family Fabaceae):

pussytoes (Antennaria sp., Family Asteraceae):

spotted coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata, Family Orchidaceae):

maiden blue-eyed mary (Collinsia parviflora, Family Scrophulariaceae):

many-lobed groundsel (Packera/Senecio multilobata, Family Asteraceae):

pale agoseris (Agoseris glauca, Family Asteraceae):

hawksbeard (Crepis sp., Family Asteraceae):

wild strawberry (Fragaria ovalis, Family Rosaceae):

star Solomon's seal (Maianthemum stellatum, Family Liliaceae):

unknown flower (Family Apiaceae?):

Oregon-grape (Mahonia/Berberis repens, Family Berberidaceae):

unknown flower (possibly Arenaria sp., Family Caryophyllaceae?):

Lichens, which are mutualistic associations between ascomycete fungi and green algae or cyanobacteria, in various forms:

And a black-and-white version of a vista: