Grand Canyon- North Rim

The Grand Canyon, one of the "big ones", and certainly one of Dale's "must see's". I had been here before, a couple of "drive-bys" many years ago. I wanted to see it a little differently this time. We had decided we would like to see the North Rim, as it is much less commercial and has a lot fewer visitors. Thanks to our tour guide/bartender in Zion, we called the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim on the off chance we could get in. We lucked out and got the last Frontier Cabin available for the night.

We left Zion and traveled south to the North Rim through red cliffs and small, old fashioned towns. The road into the North Rim itself was through huge meadows and forests of pine and aspen, their leaves shivering in the wind. We had lunch at the edge of the canyon, Dale's first view. The Lodge was wonderful- rebuilt in the early '30's after a fire, it is a log and stone structure that is typical of that era. In addition to the lodge, there was a deli, gift shop (of course), visitor center, saloon and restaurant. The lodge itself had 2 large sun decks overlooking the canyon- just spectacular! We made sure we were there for the sunset. As a nice surprise, we received a call from Paul and Gwen while we were there enjoying the view.

We were advised to take the scenic drive up to Point Imperial, the highest elevation in the park at 8803 feet, and a panoramic view of the canyon. The canyon is just immense-277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and 1 mile deep! It is impossible to take it all in, but you still try. The colors are spectacular, the rock formations are all so different, and it goes on forever. We continued on to Roosevelt Point (named after you know who) where we decided to return to the lodge. It was very smoky in this area, and burned areas were still warm. They have been "managing" a lightning fire in that area since the 1st of August- the smoke has impacted the normally clear views.

As far as the fauna of this area, we saw wild turkeys, several mule deer (including a mother and fawn), and lots of birds. Birds were more plentiful in this area than any other park we have visited. Ravens are present here in large numbers, and are part of the culture of the North Rim. When in the Visitor Center, a gentleman working there told us a story about ravens that he had been told by a ranger who was an expert on this bird (and who he felt looked very much like his subject...). Ravens are the most intelligent bird in the world. These birds also mate for life. The ranger told the story of a mated pair of ravens who "hunted" together. The parks used to have the type of rubbish barrel with the dome top and the flapper that pushed open to dispose of trash. The female raven would push open the flapper with her wing, allowing the male to fly into the barrel. She would then fly to a nearby tree to keep watch. Soon, the male would begin to peck on the inside of the barrel, signaling the female to fly down, open the flapper with her wing to let the male out. They would then both enjoy the leftovers found by the male. Talk about trust- one of the keys to mating for life!

The next morning, after sleeping in our little, very basic, cabin, we did a couple of short walks and headed off to the South Rim, knowing we would find a very different setting with a very different feel- back from the '30's, and into the 21st century!