Today we drove from Kanab, Utah to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This is one of the more remote areas of national parks in the continental United States. It was a one hour and forty five minute drive from Kanab to the North Rim. There is only one town closer. Fredonia, Arizona is five minutes closer.
As we approached the Grand Canyon, there was evidence of a recent wildfire.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon with one other vehicle. It was one of the few we saw during our drive. The entry station was not staffed when we arrived.
We were pleasantly surprised to see buffalo roaming a meadow within the Grand Canyon park.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is very different from the South Rim. The North Rim is about 1000 feet higher in elevation. It also has much more forest around it.
Our first hike was the Widforss Trail. It runs along the North Rim. The trail is in the woods much of the time. Occasionally, you get a great view of the canyon. Some are framed by trees.
Other views are more wide open.
The trail had some decent ascents in it. The woods provided much appreciated shade. While the temperature was moderated by the altitude, the sunshine warmed us quickly. The hike was very nice. The views were amazing.
After the Widforss Trail, we drove to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. From there we took a short hike on the Bright Angel Point Trail to see views of the full canyon. It is a magnificent canyon. There are many branch canyons that feed into the main canyon at the Colorado River.
Some of the areas within the canyon are mountains in their own right. For example, the peak in this photo is probably over 2000 feet above its base in the canyon.
From this view, you can see the mountains in the distance. They sit on the plain that starts from the south rim and goes south for miles.
From the Bright Angel Point trail, we walked a short distance to the Transept Trail. The Transept Trail follows the North Rim along the part that reaches out to Bright Angel Point.
It offers additional views of the North Rim like this one were we stopped for a rest
We took a selfie to show we were here.
We returned to the lodge after our hike to check into our room.
The room was in a rustic building from the 1970’s. It had no air conditioning and no microwave. It was still comfortable and it had a nice view.
We had a 4:30 pm dinner reservation at the lodge restaurant. The restaurant was well appointed. The wait staff was very good. The food was unique. We had venison meatloaf and salmon for dinner.
We got one of the window seats. The view from our table was extraordinary.
After dinner, we returned to Bright Angel Point to enjoy the sunset. We took several shots as the sun set. You can see them in order below.
The photos are in chronological order. It is interesting to see how the sky varied from blue to yellow and then to white in cycles as the sun set.
As the sun prepared to drop below the horizon, we had someone take this photo. Notice the varying colors created by the setting sun.
Then one last shot as the sun disappeared until the morning.
A nice sunset to finish a great day at the North Rim.