Hardy Tree – While waiting for better looks inside the Grand Canyon I was drawn to this tree growing near the edge. Of great interest to me was the massive size of the exposed roots. This specimen has had a hard life standing on the edge of this iconic canyon. Thus my title, Hardy Tree. We were at Cape Royal Overlook when I found and photographed this tree.
Our trips from Yellowstone National Park back to our home in Central Texas usually include stops at places we had never been or places we wanted to return to. In the fall of 2016, we decided to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. In late October, the downside of visiting this area is that nearly every concession operation in the park had already closed, or operations were significantly reduced. However, this same fact meant there were not a lot of other people making our visit more relaxing.