The North Rim of the Grand Canyon

From Page, Arizona it was a short drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I'd been there before but this was a new place for Lynda.

Back in 1992 I did a Backroads cycling trip from Brian Head, UT to Bryce Canyon, then to the North Rim and finishing at Zion National Park. I enjoyed reliving my Backroads trip as we drove the roads I cycled 25 years ago.

We drove up the winding 89A from Marble Canyon, past Vermillion Cliffs to the National Forest campground at Jacob Lake. Jacob Lake is a 40 mile drive along Rt. 67 to the North Rim.
I remembered this road as being lined with trees most of the way but to my surprise there were miles of barren, burned out areas, the result of the 2000 Outlet Fire.

This fire left large open areas providing views of the Vermillion Cliffs.

17 years later the forest is just starting to recover

We were lucky enough to hit the Kaibab Plateau as the Aspens were in full fall color. It was spectacular!

 






Grand Canyon National Park covers 1.2 million acres and 1904 square miles, is 1 mile deep, and 277 miles long. Several million years ago receding oceans and the newly formed (yet to be named) Colorado River started the erosion that resulted in this "really, really, big hole in the ground".

The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and the North Rim Lodge sit above a canyon that runs perpendicular to the Colorado River. This positioning affords a less expansive view of the canyon but it's still spectacular. The overlook nearest the lodge is Bright Angel Point

The Lodge       

A panorama looking SE to S. If you squint real hard you can see the buildings on the south rim...

Of course we took the obligatory "selfie"

After exploring the area around the lodge we took a ride to some other viewpoints along the rim. Point Imperial and Cape Royal.

Views from Point Imperial give a sense of the canyon's vastness and views of the desert beyond.

Angels Window at Cape Royal sticks out into the canyon about 3000 feet from the bottom (!)
When I was here in '92 thunderstorms passing overhead caused a woman's hair to stand on end. Pretty scary!

From the right angle you can catch a glimpse of the Colorado River through the Angels Window.

You can walk on top of the rock above the window and get a better view of the river 1 mile below and several miles away.

I'll end this post with another selfie looking SE toward Vermillion Cliffs and the Painted Desert.

But wait...there's more to come, As We Travel.