SUNSET AT HERMITS REST

These are not the first sunset pictures that I've posted from the Grand Canyon, but they are the first taken from Hermits Rest. We are entering the Arizona Monsoon Season, and the last few days have been typical for this time of year. Clouds roll in, usually in the afternoon, and with the overcast skies, there usually is some rain, with possible thunder and lightning.

Yesterday, we had all of the above. In fact, the lightning strikes were so close to the Hermits Road, the supervisor shut down the Red Route. Instead of taking people from the village out to Hermits Rest, we concentrated on getting people off the South Rim, and back to shelter in the village. From about 6pm, for the next hour and a half, the 8 red route buses, including myself, moved hundreds of people away from the potentially hazardous weather.

After the mass movement of people was finished, I was asked to drive out to the end of the road, and standby at Hermits Rest until after sunset. I shot these pictures just after the thunderstorms had moved past, but were still partially over the canyon. I tried several times to get a shot of some lightning, but it just wasn't to be. With the clouds filling part of the canyon as the sun was setting, it was a much different scene than the normal evening sunset.

After the first wave of thunderstorms moved from south to north, we noticed smoke from a fire on the north rim. My guess is it was caused by the lightning, but that was not confirmed. The good news with this coming wet season is that in one respect, the fire danger diminishes considerably. Conversely, there is usually lightning with the rain, and that causes a few fires.

The other good news, is that this weather keeps the temperatures at a very comfortable level. We're now in the 80's, with more humidity, but it's a whole lot better than the 115 degree temps back in Lake Havasu City.