Welcome to the 4th of July water parade at Grand Canyon North Rim. Be careful where you stand to watch the parade. There are designated wet zones and dry zones. Yet that’s still no guarantee. National Parks don’t allow fireworks, so we shoot water instead.
Most of the visiting kids really get into this and so do some of the adults.
The parade is an annual event with participants from the mule riders, EMS staff, the Forever Resorts concession and miscellaneous park employees.
Smokey Bear even showed up to remind everyone to be careful with fire. Even though a little rain fell in the morning to kick off the monsoon season it remains Very dry here and fire restrictions still apply.
After a long dusty ride, mule riders earn a cold brew from the Rough Rider Saloon named after Theodore Roosevelt who set aside this amazing landscape for the pleasure of all.
Once the parade is over there’s nothing left but water and it’s business as usual.
Plus a few piles of mule poop.
Hello there! That looks like a lot of fun. We had downpours here with the weather. I helped boil the corn and make hotdogs for everyone:) It looks like it was a really nice time. I always get worried about the fireworks. The state made them legal but here in Tucson, they are illegal to shoot off. But there were still many that went off. I am thankful for the great amounts of rain. The fires terrify me. After the Mt. Lemmon fire, I am much more aware of how something so small can spark something massive. The fire was very close to our backyard at the time in the Foothills. I’ll never forget that experience.
Hope you get some more rain. I know it’s in the forecast all week. We get some more today. I washed windows yesterday and got my cacti garden back into gear. Hope you have fun:)
A brilliant way to celebrate the 4th in my opinion. More fun for everybody than all that money going up in smoke with fireworks. I don’t enjoy them much anymore, even when the weather is favorable.)
You’re preachin’ to the choir here with your banner…thanks for having the courage to post it.
Looks like a great time. Wish I were there.
What a fun and safe way to celebrate, looks like a wonderful tradition!
Great Move to Amend banner, a very important and timely message. 🙂
What a great idea! Looks like old-time fun.
Getting wet is something new to me, but it sure is lots of fun!
I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July and from the looks of it you did. The Americans just know how to do a parade. Parades isn’t really something we have much of.
Youfolk out there in the wilds sure know how the celebrate! I hope you enjoyed it all! 😉
That was a great idea of replacing fireworks with water. Much safer too.