Diane arrived at the Hermit Road trailhead before the sky had any light in it.
She had driven from the housing area on the South Rim in the dark, following the road that curved through the ponderosa pine forest with her headlights on. The road was empty at this hour. The park did not open to private vehicles on Hermit Road until eight in the morning, and the shuttle buses did not begin their first runs until six-thirty, and the few visitors who came to the rim before sunrise made their way on foot from the visitor centre to the nearer overlooks. The western half of the Hermit Road was empty and would stay empty until the morning shuttles began.
She parked at the Hermit's Rest turnaround, where the road ended, and got out of the truck into the cold.