GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK NORTH RIM

After our day of rest we were prepared for another day of touring on Thursday. We had to pass through the little town of Fredonia on our way to the only road into the park.

Housing in the poor side of town

Before we got to the park we passed through part of the AZ Strip. This is an area from the NE and UT borders to the Colorado River. It was once 12000 sq miles of grassland but is now sage desert.

We passed pine forests--this was wildfire burned,

and upland meadows with snowmelt and rain water pools and streams.

Once again our parks pass saves the day.

First we drove to the visitors center and lodge. From there we walked the paved trail to Bright Angel Point. The pic below was our first view of the North Rim from the parking lot.

Views from the trail

From Bright Angel Point--where we could see Bright Angel Canyon, we walked the rim trail to the lodge.

The original lodge--you guessed it! burned down! This is an exact replica. Inside we found we could get rooms, eat in the dining room, get gifts, and view the canyon from the lounging area. You don't have to be registered at the lodge to enjoy the amenities.

We drove down the road about 1/2 mile to a picnic area to enjoy our lunch. It was a little breezy and cool, but the view was worth it. This Stellar's Jay came looking for crumbs.

Backtracking, we came to a y in the road. Going right took us throuth Fuller Canyon and to another y. Left we went up to Imperial Point.

One great thing about the North Rim--although it was Memorial Weekend, there are few visitors here so the viewpoints were not crowded. This was our favorite.

From here we could see the south rim. The River is hidden by the intervening plateau.

All of these viewpoints are fenced so we felt safe even though the wind was trying to blow us off the cliffs.

Bactracking again we took the right fork to Roosevelt Point. A little .2 mile trail let to a view of Imperial Point, which is at the top point of the plateau before the decent. We could see the place we just were through the field glasses.

This hole was caused by wind and water erosion. Click on it and you can see an overlook on top and the Colorado River at the bottom of the window. This view and the next two are the only places we could see the river from the north rim.

At Walhalla Overlook we could see the bend in the river. Here there is a large gravel bar where the Kaibab (just the way it looks) farmed in the winter. In summer they climbed the rim and established a village of stone buildings. The air was much warmer here than below because of the warm updrafts from the canyon.

We walked across the street to view these ruins, but forgot to put in a pic! Tired but happy we bactracked our way out the way we came in. We were did see some mule deer feeding in the meadows, but our camera malfunctioned and none of the pix came out. O well, we still got plenty of good pix.

Tomorrow, more good stuff

Louise and Duane