Grand Canyon – North Rim

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Grand Canyon – North Rim

August 25

With the incredible Wave adventure swirling in our minds as we woke, we hopped in the Jeep and headed south of Kanab, Utah toward the Grand Canyon north rim in Arizona. It was just 1.5 hours away, and the scenery was spectacular.  We made a stop on Scenic Byway 89a at LaFevre Overlook, an informational viewpoint of the Grand Staircase Escalante. This was a great view, but the placard also pointed out the five layers of cliffs in this desert region from the Chocolate Cliffs (lowest layer), to the Pink Cliffs (highest layer). The Vermillion Cliffs, where the Wave is, is the second lowest layer of cliffs.

The North Rim Canyon Lodge sells out early, and so if we wanted to stay at or near the rim for the next two nights, we would need to camp at the North Rim Campground, which is walking distance to the Lodge and right on the rim.  I had to wait for Recreation.gov to open up the campground for online reservations for the days we wanted. It was August 15 when I was able to make a reservation, but I couldn’t get two nights at the same campsite.  So, I made reservations for one night each at two different campsites within the campground. The plan was to talk with the campground host upon arrival to haggle a spot for two nights so we wouldn’t have to move.

Arriving at around noon we first oriented ourselves around the North Rim Visitor Center and the Lodge area.  It takes very little effort to get magnificent canyon views once out of the car at the Visitor Center.

Before heading to the campground we made sure to get reservations for dinner that night at the breathtaking lodge overlooking the canyon.  We were lucky to get the reservations, too.  Score! Then off to the campground to set up the tent.  Unfortunately we were unable to negotiate a trade of our two one-night sites for one two-night site.  But were able to at least get a better site for the second night.  We would just need to move the tent the following morning about 100 yards.

At about 2:30 pm we set out on the scenic drives in the car to tour the various viewing points and short hikes in the area.  This part of the North Rim is very easy to get around, get out of the car, hike a little here and there and see some stunning geography.  We headed out via Cape Royal Road.  First stop was hiking the short Roosevelt Point Trail. This trail was not exciting and mostly grassy, but we managed some good views.  Roosevelt Point Trail turned out to just be a small appetizer to what was coming.

Back in the car on Cape Royal Road we headed to Angels Window, not far up the road. From the parking area there was a very easy, half-mile gravel walking path to reach the Window.

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Along the way we could see the “window” within the dramatic, overarching rock formation before reaching it and actually walking out onto the arch itself. This was very awesome.

We then walked back to the car and drove a short way to Point Imperial, the highest point on the North Rim. The pics pretty much say it all. We were pleasantly surprised at how few people were out an about, it was like having the canyon to ourselves! We walked a bit of the Ken Patrick Trail here as well.

So we set out at about 2:30 pm on the Point Imperial and Cape Royal scenic drive routes and got back to the campsite around 6:00 pm.  This was a great leisurely way to spend the afternoon and cover the essentials at the top of the Grand Canyon North Rim.  We freshened up at the campsite before walking to the lodge for our 7:30 dinner reservation. The sun was setting as we got there so we took that in from some open seats on the lodge’s scenic patio.

The menu options at the Grand Canyon Lodge restaurant are fairly limited but the food is upscale and fantastic.  The dining room and its views are equally fantastic.

After an excellent dinner we called it a night. Morning calls for moving the tent to the new site, then hiking the North Kaibab Trail into the Grand Canyon!

Next: Grand Canyon – North Kaibab Trail