A few years
ago we visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon – it was magnificent! When we visited then the day was cold and
overcast. About 90% of the 5 million per
year that come to visit the Grand Canyon go to the south rim, so it was also
crowded. The north rim is harder to get
to, in fact from the time we left Page until we returned we had been gone 9
hours, about 6 hours of that was driving – thank you, Greg. The north rim is definitely less crowded, we
could find parking at every pull off and didn’t feel rushed to move on, we
could just stand and enjoy.
Scenery is
good even before we get close to the Grand Canyon.
This section
of 89 south is not one of my favorites, the views are great but the steep
inclines and sharp turns make me nervous.
We’ve taken the motor coach this way several times and we will do it
again tomorrow as we head to Flagstaff.
We are
headed to Lee’s Ferry, a short detour, before we go on to the Grand
Canyon. This photo shows the Vermillion
Cliffs which run for a good ways between Lee’s Ferry and the Grand Canyon.
The area
around Lee’s Ferry is wonderful. At one
time the Lee family ran a ferry across the Colorado River.
These huge
boulders lay at the base of some of the mountains, it looks like they came from
the very top of the mountains.
The water of
the Colorado River is calmer here, guess that is why it made a good place for a
ferry. I was very tempted to take my
shoes off and walk in the cool water.
It always
amazes me where wildflowers pop up and bring a smile to my face.
More views
of the Vermillion Cliffs. When the sun
is shining on the cliffs the abundance of colors is amazing.
The boulders
around the cliffs.
Going into
the Kaibab National Forest all you can see is small shrubs and open plains
where buffalo used to run.
My guy and
the Jeep with the Vermillion Cliffs in the background.
As we get to
higher elevations in the national forest we start to see pine trees.
I caught
this sign as it was between words. What
it says is “wild fire in progress, don’t report”. We saw some faraway smoke as we were headed
to this area.
The aspens
are starting to turn yellow and make a dramatic contrast to the pine trees.
We stopped
for lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge before heading out to explore the north
rim.
You can view
some of the canyon from the lodge area.
Point
Imperial is the highest point in the canyon and has the deepest view. If you can’t take the time to stop at the
rest of the viewpoints at least get to this one, it brought tears to my
eyes. Sometimes something is so
beautiful that it just takes your breath away.
Although I like my pictures, they don’t do the view justice.
More views
of the canyon as we visited other viewpoints.
I don’t think we will ever make the trip to the north rim again since it
does take so long, but I am so appreciative that Greg was willing to drive all
that way. What a great day!
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