Grand Canyon North Rim

We left the South Rim the morning of 7/31, and started out for the North Rim, a 5 hour trip.  We made some stops along the way in the park as we headed out towards Desert View en route to North Rim.  We stopped at the Tsuyan Ruins, which was a neat little area of the ruins of an old village (1185 AD) of about 30 people. 

 

It had the footprints of all of their old buildings – dwellings, storage areas and kivas (spiritual gathering structure).  The dwellings were interesting.  You could tell from the pictures on the placards there, that the only entrances were from the top of the buildings – no doors.  So there were ladders leaning against all of the buildings for people to get in and out of them. 

 

 

 

The next stop was really cool – the East Desert View and the Watchtower area.  It was another view of the canyon, but it was a great 360 degree view.  The Watchtower is a building (see pic) that was designed by Mary Coulter.  The original request was for a structure to capitalize on the magnificent view, but in keeping with the natural beauty and culture of the area.  She was quite successful!  It replicated an Indian structure and had Indian drawings throughout the interior and all of the structural materials blended so naturally with the area.  You couldn’t beat the view, and we also got a stamp!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near Navajo reservation, start of canyon

 

 

We exited the park and drove along the Navajo Reservation, which is a massive area – take a look at a map!  You have to get to the first crossing of the Colorado Bridge, east of the Canyon, in order to go up and around to the North Rim.  Right at that area is the Navajo Bridge and Lee’s Ferry (see more pics!).  We got some really beautiful pictures of some birds at the bridge – possibly CA Condors?   There are two bridges at the Navajo Bridge, the original (now pedestrian only) and a newer one (built for vehicular traffic).  It goes over the Colorado River, and is a pretty awesome sight – well worth the stop, and we got a stamp!  

 

We took a small detour and went to Lee’s Ferry – that’s where all the rafters enter the Colorado and float down towards the Grand Canyon.  Every morning on South Rim, you could hear the planes and helicopters flying tourists up to that area, so they could float their way down to a certain point, where they then get bussed back to Grand Canyon area.  Lee’s Ferry was named after a Mormon family, of course, and they ferried people back and forth across the river before the bridge was built.  Bill left the car lights on while we checked out the bridges so we came back to a dead battery.  This was our single car mishap for the 10,000 miles.  Not bad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In that same area, the Paria River meets the Colorado, and we saw the first rapid in the Grand Canyon area – it’s actually called a “riffle”, which is just shy of being a rapid by definition.  We got to walk along the riffle area, which had a sandy beach area with lots of rocks, and lots of little lizards, and it was where the Vermilion Cliffs meet the Echo Cliffs.  The drive to this area was cool too – besides the various cliffs, there was a stretch of area called the “Balanced Rocks”, and the pictures are self-explanatory.

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the Visitor Center for the Kaibab National Forest in Jacobs Lake (another stamp, but not really legit for the NP Passport, oh well, it’s a stamp!).  The Forest Ranger there was very knowledgeable, and told us all about the area – the weather patterns, the people, etc.  A storm was brewing outside – a recurring theme in the area, the afternoon storms.  We chatted with the ranger while waiting out the deluge, and then continued on our journey to the North Rim, another 40 miles down the road from Jacobs Lake.  For the record there is not really a lake in that town, just a big kettle hole (i.e., sink hole).

We arrived at the North Rim around 3 p.m. and checked into the Grand Canyon Lodge, which was right there by the Visitor Center, about 15-20 miles from the park entrance.  It was a cute little area, and the main area of the north rim.  There was a General Store, the Rough Rider Saloon (coffee/café by day, bar by night), a deli, the Lodge, and all the little cabins.  We had a cute one room cabin with a gas fireplace, along a trail that led to Bright Angel Point, and along the east side of the north rim.  The entire late afternoon into early evening was spent watching the rain storm ping-pong between the north and south rim.  Our cabin had a sweet little covered porch with rocking chairs, so we sat there for a few hours just taking it all I – the views, the people walk along the rim trail in the dry spells, and we made some long overdue calls home to say a quick hello.  We had made a reservation for dinner in the lodge later that evening and had a nice meal.

We woke up 5:15 a.m. the next morning to watch the sunrise at Bright Angel Point.  It was a little cloudy, so we didn’t see much of the sunrise, but Angel Point was beautiful, and the stillness of early morning was so peaceful.  What a nice way to start the day.

 

We packed up and hit the post office to mail some postcards, the gift shop to buy some souvenirs and gifts, and the deli to grab some breakfast and coffee before hitting the road.  On the way out of the park, we stopped off to see Imperial Point, one of the best vistas on the north rim.  We took some pictures and then headed on our way for Zion National Park.  Although a short stay on the north rim, it was a great spot and we enjoyed the 18 hours we were there.