Plateau Point, Grand Canyon National Park

January 02, 2015

PlateauPointTrail

PlateauPointGC

Photographer: Kathleen Kiefer
Summary Authors: Kathleen Kiefer; Jackie Phillips

Once I saw the Grand Canyon from the South Rim for the first time (in February 2013) I knew I had to hike into that beautiful chasm of geologic wonder. On November 10, 2014, my friend Nancy and I headed to the bottom of the canyon for a three-day adventure.

We chose the Bright Angel Trail to make our descent to Indian Garden, where we would camp the first night -- top photo. The treed area in the middle of the frame is the location of Indian Garden. Plateau Point Trail can be seen as a thin line just beyond Indian Garden. This was our next destination. The second photograph, taken while on the trail, portrays Utah Agave plants in silhouette framing the brilliant colors painted across cliffs on the north side of the river. Zoroaster Temple is the prominent rock formation to the right. At the end of the trail lies Plateau Point overlooking the Granite Gorge between Pipe Creek Canyon and Monument Canyon. This spot, on a rocky bluff, 1,300 ft (396 m) above the Colorado River offers some of the most spectacular views of the canyon.

Photo details: Top - Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark III; Lens: EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM; Focal Length: 40mm; Focus Distance: Infinite; Aperture: ƒ/13.0; Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320); ISO equiv: 200; Software: Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh). Bottom - same except: Focal Length: 82mm; Aperture: ƒ/14.0; Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250).