Bright Angel Creek, part of the greater Grand Canyon complex, empties into the Colorado River just below Grand Canyon Village. The creek formed Bright Angel Canyon in much the same way the Colorado eroded its way through Grand Canyon. When you look down from the Village, you look straight into Bright Angel Canyon.
During the summer months, the sun is high in the sky at mid-day and the vivid colors of the sculptures in the canyon are truly inspirational. The sky can be gray with frequent thunderstorms in the area, or it can be blue, with flat-bottomed cumulus clouds floating above the canyon rim. The summers are warm at the South Rim with temperatures ranging between the high 70s and low 90s. When I took this shot of the canyon last summer, the temperature was in the low 80s.
Winter brings a variety of conditions, ranging from fog and low clouds that obscure the canyon, to high winds which chill to the bone. Occasionally, a cold front will bring snowfall that can last for several days and will ice things up pretty good. The latter condition prevailed during our recent visit to the canyon. We stayed in the trailer village overnight and went to the rim to capture this winter view with low sun angle and long shadows. The snow was pretty deep in most places and the roads were pretty icy.
You can click on either image to enlarge.