I arrived in the Grand Canyon to grey skies and constant wind after with long days of sunny weather in Southern Utah. It was Saturday, I often try to avoid the canyon on weekends - plenty of people are excited to visit on an in-season weekend and I'd rather not crowd them. Surprisingly even with well over 4 million visitors a year you can still, sometimes, escape the crowds.

On the rim I found a temporary respite from the wind in a small alcove. There was non-existent view (by Grand Canyon standards) and I couldn't find much reason to think this spot was visited by many people, modern or ancient - a great spot to sit alone and unbothered.

Over the wind I could hear occasional birds, planes, squirrels and maybe a faint noise from the road. The surrounding area was beautiful - near sunset I wandered to the rim where unbroken clouds created a peaceful blue end to the day.