You can see the Colorado River through the hole in the rock at Angel's Window
We’ve moved on from Zion National Park to Grand Canyon National Park. We’re staying at the North Rim, and it’s a lot less crowded than the South Rim, but the campground is still full. If you want to stay here, planning ahead and making reservations seems very, very important.
We’re at 8,800 feet of altitude, so hiking and climbing steps is a constant reminder to the elevation. This side doesn’t seem as hot, dry or commercial as the South Rim, you don’t have to get on a tram to see anything, the roads really are less crowded, the pace seems slower and the panoramas are just as spectacular. There is just one place on the North Rim where you can see the Colorado River and this side is also almost 2,000 feet higher than the South Rim.
The drive here was not too interesting, although we did stop at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park in Utah, very near the border. They have their very own beetle which lives nowhere else in the world, and lots of pink sand dunes, but other than that, oh well….
Today we did the North Rim Drive to Point Imperial and Cape Royal. Pretty nautical sounding names, but the closest to water was Greenland Lake (more of an oversized algae pond) and one glimpse of the Colorado River, far, far below. There was also an ancient ruin (occupied about 1050 AD), called the Walhalla Glades where there was a small village, no more than about 6 to 8 rooms and some additional storage. Evidently, these people moved between a small delta at the bottom of the canyon where the Colorado River and Unkar Creek, farm at the bottom, live at the top when it got unbearably hot at the bottom.
Another full day here tomorrow, and then it’s off to visit Antelope Valley (there’s a really cool ‘slot’ canyon, pictures are found of it all over the interweb). And then I separate from Matt, Beth, Josh and CJ for a week, and I’ll visit Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, Santa Fe, Taos, the fabled highway 666 in New Mexico and I’ll eat Mexican food every night! Maybe that’s why my current air mattress has given up the ghost, heard me talking and decided to end it’s life early?
We’ve moved on from Zion National Park to Grand Canyon National Park. We’re staying at the North Rim, and it’s a lot less crowded than the South Rim, but the campground is still full. If you want to stay here, planning ahead and making reservations seems very, very important.
We’re at 8,800 feet of altitude, so hiking and climbing steps is a constant reminder to the elevation. This side doesn’t seem as hot, dry or commercial as the South Rim, you don’t have to get on a tram to see anything, the roads really are less crowded, the pace seems slower and the panoramas are just as spectacular. There is just one place on the North Rim where you can see the Colorado River and this side is also almost 2,000 feet higher than the South Rim.
The drive here was not too interesting, although we did stop at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park in Utah, very near the border. They have their very own beetle which lives nowhere else in the world, and lots of pink sand dunes, but other than that, oh well….
Today we did the North Rim Drive to Point Imperial and Cape Royal. Pretty nautical sounding names, but the closest to water was Greenland Lake (more of an oversized algae pond) and one glimpse of the Colorado River, far, far below. There was also an ancient ruin (occupied about 1050 AD), called the Walhalla Glades where there was a small village, no more than about 6 to 8 rooms and some additional storage. Evidently, these people moved between a small delta at the bottom of the canyon where the Colorado River and Unkar Creek, farm at the bottom, live at the top when it got unbearably hot at the bottom.
Another full day here tomorrow, and then it’s off to visit Antelope Valley (there’s a really cool ‘slot’ canyon, pictures are found of it all over the interweb). And then I separate from Matt, Beth, Josh and CJ for a week, and I’ll visit Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, Santa Fe, Taos, the fabled highway 666 in New Mexico and I’ll eat Mexican food every night! Maybe that’s why my current air mattress has given up the ghost, heard me talking and decided to end it’s life early?
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