Bison at the North Rim

I was glad to be out of the dusty plains of Northern Arizona as the road was finally going up the mountains. I know now that there is a large plateau here which would have a distinct climate from the desert below. It really is interesting to see how different the plant life here is compared to the desert below. I was just seeing various shades of red or orange from the desert but now I am finally seeing green from trees. Initially, the trees were still rather sparse as I went through the Kaibab National Forest but eventually the plant life finally got thick enough that I finally forgot about the desert I just came from just a few minutes ago.

There is a sign here for the altitude as you go along the highway and I can tell that the elevation is getting higher as I go. I was also keeping an eye on the outside temperature and I can also tell that the temperature was going lower. This is a welcome relief for me since the whole desert heat was very uncomfortable. I knew that I was getting closer to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, when I have started seeing signs for it. But before that, there was a scene that I didn’t expect there. There were several cars parked off to the side and I can see why they stopped. There was a herd of bison here and everyone was taking photos. I couldn’t let that opportunity pass me by either. I have never seen live bison before so this was also exciting for me.

The bison were just lazily grazing on the grass here contrary to how I imagined them to be. I thought they would be aggressive but I guess, if you are eating, you forget to be aggressive. The area is fenced out but only to the point that visitors won’t be able to get to them. This is some sort of open enclosure and it is managed by the park authorities. The population of the bison is carefully managed to make sure there is no overpopulation. Sometimes if there are too many bison, some would be transferred to different locations.

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