Our first look at distant vistas was a little hazy. We found out that the pollution from other areas often settles into the canyon. With the wildfires in nearby California, there could be some smoke in the air as well. But when we had close views of canyon walls, they were clearly lovely. Mark had an even closer view, as he is perched on the white rock on the right hand side of the picture.
After looking at pictures from the day, it seems that Mark climbs up on white rocks quite often.
One of the best ways to explore the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is to take the scenic drive that runs near the edge. We got out at each of the viewpoints to see another section of the canyon.
It was nice to always find a parking place in each of the pull outs. Of the six million people that visit the Grand Canyon every year, only 10% of them come to the North Rim. So it feels only a tenth as crowded as the throngs on the South Rim.
The views are different on the North Rim because it is higher in elevation on this side. This picture was taken from Point Imperial--the very tallest elevation at the Grand Canyon--8,803 feet. That's 1,000 feet taller than the South Rim.
The views are also different because of the shape of the canyon. The South Rim has angled walls leading directly into the deepest depths of the Colorado River basin. On the other side, the North Rim canyon has hills and valleys and few places to catch a glimpse of the river that carved it.
We hiked out to the very end of the 20-mile scenic road for another great view at Cape Royal. In the upper left hand corner of the picture, you might notice that Mark is standing on the edge of yet another tall white rock.
We were disappointed to see that many of the aspens on the drive from Jacob's Lake have lost their leaves. But a few around the rim are still golden. We found some pretty trees when we stopped to take this picture of Angels Window--the hole at the center of the picture.
Now Mark has convinced Denisa to stand on tall white rocks, as he takes a closer picture of the window.
You can't even see her, but Denisa has now magically appeared on top of the viewpoint on top of Angels Window. The fact that we can't even see her is evidence that the window is really big!
President Teddy Roosevelt was instrumental in making the Grand Canyon a National Park, and we are stopped at Roosevelt Point now. We had to bushwhack through the brambles, but we hiked a seldom-used trail out towards Roosevelt Point for another view of the canyon.
Mark must have tired of climbing on rocks, because now he is climbing on the trees that are clinging onto the edge of the canyon.
The other thing clinging to the edge is the Grand Canyon Lodge. You can see it nestled at the edge of the trees overlooking the canyon.
Built in 1928, its position on the edge makes for some great views through the over-sized windows in the lobby. We can also report that the dining room serves a great lunch to hungry travelers. But the facilities here at the North Rim close in mid-October, so our timing was right to get to see the inside of the lodge and visitor center.
Not far from the lodge was our favorite walk of the day--Bright Angel Point Trail. The trail takes you down a peninsula that juts into the canyon. That gave us deep views on both sides on this beautiful blue sky day. We saw many people shaky about the height we were above the canyon floor at the viewpoint. But wait, who's that guy scrambling up on the rocks above that viewpoint?
We have seen the North Rim from the top of many rocks today. It was beautiful weather with great temperatures in October, and the crowds were light. The Grand Canyon is one of the "Seven Wonders of the World," so we have obviously wandered beside another of God's wonders today. But we think we need to come back for another day in order to see the views from inside the canyon tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment