North Rim, Grand Canyon
Trip Start
Jun 08, 2008
1
5
16
Trip End
Jun 20, 2008
Jacob Lake,
Arizona,
United States
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The drive to the North Rim is vastly different than the South Rim. It's much less commercialized and more natural. Private vehicles are allowed inside the park, unlike the parks like Zion which require you to take the shuttle throughout the park. Our drive in allowed us to see some of the 59,000 acres which burned in the Jacob Lake area during 2006. This fire was caused by one lightening strike. The damage, while severe, was actually a good thing for the forest, according to the ranger. The sections which burned the most were along the roads where we were driving. I took some amazing photographs along the way in.
After the burned out areas were meadows so large and beautiful. There was still some pockets of snow on the ground in the shaded areas of the park. It was 76 degrees but the snow remained.
The switchbacks were terrifying from my perspective as the passenger! The drop-off was steep and there are no guardrails. You have to watch for free ranging cattle along the roads, deer and falling rocks.
The view of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim is no less breathtaking than the South Rim, but it is different. I'm not even going to try to find the words to describe the beauty. I can't. There was a stiff breeze with gusts up to 35 - 40 mph. Made for a few anxious moments while walking the narrow paths and taking pictures. I walked up and down some steep paths for the best picture, only to discover there was another perspective that needed a picture too! I don't even know how many pics I took...but it was alot!
On the way out of the park, we were saw a wolf in one of the many meadows. What an honor to have seen it! We were also able to see a deer (not like our white-tailed deer) cross the road and enter the meadow right in front of us.
We drove to Kanab and stayed the night at the Aiken's Lodge. I don't think a single thing has changed in this lodge since 1950, but we loved it! The owner was a hoot, they had plastic chairs outside each door on a small porch and many of the guests were sitting outside. It was a warm, windy night and we visited back and forth with our neighbors.
We ate our dinner at the poolside tables outside and couldn't keep our eyes off the beautiful red rocks/mountains that surround this city. There was a Morman church right across the street which rang the bells on the church every hour. Kanab is a very small town, very quaint and laid-back. While nothing fancy, we enjoyed our stay at Aiken's! The place was full for the night, so many others must have felt the same! Off to Zion National Park tomorrow and the long-awaited stay at the Desert Pearl Inn.
