Touring the North Rim Scenics

It's our kid's first day on the North Rim and if the weather is cooperative that means a trip to Bright Angel point first thing.  It's monsoon season so isolated thunderstorms and all day rains are a real possibility.  But for now luck is with us and we are on our way to one of the best overlooks on the North Rim.

The quarter mile walk to the point takes you down the rim of Roaring Springs Canyon.  When the wind is just right you can hear the springs almost two thousand feet down.

Just a little further out and it is possible to look to the southwest and see the Grand Canyon itself.

Justin quickly established his mode of operation for the whole visit, if there was an edge he was going to get out on it.

Scrub oak and juniper grow right out of the rock.  Apparently no soil is necessary for these gnarly trees.

After telling the kids how breathtaking the views can be out here, they are finally getting to see for themselves.

If there is an accessible edge, Justin is on it.

And even some not so accessible edges.

A good part of the day was done by the time we got off Bright Angel Point.  The remainder was spent around the lodge and back at the camper.

Day 2

The weather was looking to be a little less cooperative today but we are heading out to Cape Royal on the chance that the rain will hold off until later in the day.  Lucky for us, it did.

I've photographed this scene several times but the light was exceptional on this day.

Getting on the edge was not left totally up to Justin to do.



Angels Window.
One of about two places you can see the Colorado River, even if it is only a tiny sliver at the bottom of the window.

 

It's not all about scenic vistas up here.  There is a lot of interesting paleontology too.  Below Shauna and Cyndee explore a 900 year old village ruin that was one half of a settlement that was split between the top of the rim and a bend in the river at the bottom of the canyon.  The ancients would migrate between the two.  Summer on top, winter on the bottom.

 

After exploring Cape Royal we had worked up an appetite and it was beginning to rain.  Our original plan was to have lunch at the Kaibab Lodge, just five miles outside the entrance station to the park.  But the Kaibab Lodge has a limited serving time and we were past their 1pm cutoff.  We went to plan B and headed the 45 miles out to Jacob Lake Inn for a late afternoon lunch.

Day 3

We are off to Point Imperial today, the highest point on the North Rim.

Cyndee and Shauna take in the canyon from Point Imperial overlook.

That is the South Rim off in the distance.

Justin had lots of access to edges (much to Shauna's displeasure) out here at Imperial Point.

Shauna was already holding her breath when she would see Justin pop out on a ledge ever further away, but when he appeared on the rock outcropping below that was the limit of her danger tolerance.

A calling of Justin's name in a tone that must have meant something to him brought him back from his edge crawling.

The weather was beginning to close in so we headed back to camp and were hoping for a break in the rain long enough for us to get in a campfire hotdog roast dinner.  Back at the rim it was drier and we got a campfire going but just as soon as the coals were just right, the skies opened up.  We ran for the camper as our coals were being drowned.  But as soon as the rain started, it stopped and we got a do-over.  Best hot dogs and roasted marshmallows ever.  Not to mention the full-contact game of Monopoly.  That Justin plays for keeps!

Day 4

It's all too soon, we knew it would go fast but the day for the kids to go back to Atlanta is here already.  With a 10:30 flight departure we are going to have to hit the road at 4:30am to get them there on time.  At least we should be crossing Navajo Bridge early enough to have a good chance of seeing some condors.

But that was not to be again.  It should have been a perfect morning for condors on the bridge but there was not one to be seen anywhere.  Still, looking for the condors afforded us some beautiful scenery.  The morning light on the cliffs of Marble Canyon was sweet.

Classic!  Baby bump, hands on lower back.

The Flagstaff airport is a small regional.  It is so small that they do not even have jetways, you get on a plane the old fashioned way, by walking across the tarmac and up a ramp.

It's bye for now kids but we'll be seeing you in November.

They're Here!

It's 5:00am, almost seven hours before the kid's plane arrives but there is no staying asleep.  We are both just too excited and go ahead and get ready for the day.  Since my folks have made a two hour time change, they are up and around as well.  We head out for a place that is famous for its biscuits and gravy.  We were told that getting there early on a Saturday morning was a must unless you wanted to stand in line for a table.  It is called Mike and Ronda's: The Place.

We did get a table right away and the four of us sat down with appetites ready for a carb-loading on the highest level.  But it was not to be.  It seems that the biscuits were not done yet.  We would have to wait at least a half hour for them.  Never mind that the place had been open for more than an hour, the biscuit maker must have been late to work that day and there were none available.  We did not want to wait for whoever it was to get their act together so we ordered things that none of us remember and got on with our rat-killin' for the day.

Mom's BP had not improved with a night's acclimation.  A quick look-up on Wikipedia confirmed that it would take more like seven to fourteen nights before returning to baseline.  In the interim there would be a high risk of stroke or heart attack.  It was a hard fact to face but they were going to have to return to lower altitude.  The decision was made to stick around and pick the kids up from the airport, have lunch with them and then make a non-stop drive back to Texas, a solid ten-hour drive.  So sad but so necessary.

From the "Famous for our biscuits, Sorry we don't have any biscuits" restaurant we made shopping stops at Sam's Club and Walmart to finish off our frozen and fresh food list.  It did not take as long as anticipated and we ended up sitting in the Flagstaff airport terminal for a good while before the kids arrived.  But it worked out for the best, we got to enjoy the company of my folks without distraction.

The kid's plane arrived on time and we immediately set out for Cameron Trading Post.  It is about an hours drive from Flagstaff on highway 89A, the road we take to get to the North Rim.  We had been talking about going to this place for lunch ever since the kids decided to come.  Everybody was already well versed on the specialty of the house; Fry Bread Taco.  And since we had also clued them in on the giant size of an order, all knew to order just one and split it between two.

I have posted pictures of Cameron before but on this trip we picked up a new piece of information about the metal work on the ceiling.

Most modern-day ceilings of this type are composed of tiles, but not this one.  These eight foot wide and twenty feet long pieces are a single sheet of metal, hand-hammered and custom built for this very ceiling.

Of course there was more than just lunch at Cameron.  This is a large trading post and they have everything from fine jewelry by local artists and an in-house rug weaver you can watch crafting a rug that will sell for thousands of dollars to the Chinese and Thailand made trinkets so common in most tourist traps.  Shauna and Cyndee hit the jewelry, everybody else was all over the place.

It was getting late and now we had to do what was hard; part company.  The kids were going with us to the North Rim and my folks were heading for the lower altitudes of home back in Texas.  It was hard to do but it was the right thing to do.  We said our tearful goodbyes, us going west and my folks going east.

Next stop, Navajo Bridge.  Now that it is the middle of the afternoon it is unlikely we will see any Condors but it is still worth stopping just for the scenery.

It's a law, you have to have your picture taken standing on the Navajo Bridge.

The accommodations are a bit crude but the craftsmanship of the jewelry makers is impressive.

As expected, we did not see any Condors.  When we bring the kids back to the airport it will be early in the morning and we should have a much better chance of catching them warming up before soaring down the canyon for the day.

Having taken the required-by-law picture on the bridge we jump back in the truck and make a quick jog down to Lee's Ferry.  This is one of only two places that you can drive to the Colorado River's edge in the Grand Canyon.  Considered by most to be the beginning of the Grand Canyon it is where all but a rare few begin their river rafting trip.  People from all over the world rendezvous here to begin what is undoubtedly an adventure of a lifetime.

While we may not be going on a rafting trip we are here to say that we have been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and have put our feet in the waters of the Colorado.

Even though this is the beginning and "shallow" end of the Grand Canyon, everything is still grand in scale.

Judging by the expression on Shauna's face, I don't think she expected the water to be so cold.

For a little place, everything sure is big.

From Lee's Ferry we hustled down the road along the Vermillion Cliffs and on to the gateway to the North Rim, Jacob Lake.  A brief stop at Jacob Lake and we are back on the road with hopes to get to the North Rim before twilight and multitudes of deer on the road.  Tomorrow we see the Grand Canyon, North Rim style.

Family is Coming!

My absence of writing for the past few weeks is not without cause.  Most of our days have been repetitive, scooping fire pits and checking campers in and out.  And there have not even been any interesting characters to write about.  We have entered the shoulder season, school is back in session and family campers are in short supply.  We are down to pretty much newly-weds and nearly-deads.

Something else that has been keeping me busy from writing is the preparation for the arrival of family.  Our daughter and son-in-law have been planning on coming to see us at the North Rim since last year but were having a hard time putting a stake in when exactly that would be.  In June it was possible to pick a day (in late August) but lodging on the North Rim sells out six months in advance for the campground and almost eighteen months in advance for the lodge.  Cyndee started doing the only thing one can do, check for cancellations at least twice a day, every day until you get something.

After nearly a month of searching Cyndee was able to cobble together four nights of lodging for the kids.  They would have to change rooms every night but at least we were able to get something.  Talking with my mom during our Sunday phone calls about the kids coming, and now that we all knew she was going to have a baby in December, my folks decided to come out too and make it a mini family reunion.  Cyndee was back in the hunt for rooms.  Luckily there was a lot of change happening at the lodge in August and she was able to get four more nights, albeit a change in room every night for these too.

Preparations for meeting everyone's dietary needs were worked out and we were running critically low on almost everything in our fridge and pantry so a major grocery run to Flagstaff was planned a month before their arrival.  It was a brutal trip, over eight hours of driving to and from Flag plus the eight hours spent in Flag making the dozen different stops needed to get everything done that needed to be done.  Big Gulp was packed to the gills.  The bed of the truck was full and the back seat was piled to the headliner.  When we got back to camp we filled the camp host chest freezer, the camp host refrigerator and its freezer and we packed our camper fridge and freezer so full that the doors did not want to shut.  But doing it this way we knew that we would have or not have everyone's special request on hand.  If we were not able to get it we would have time to let them know and ship it ahead of time in the case of our kids, who were getting on a plane in Atlanta, or bring it with them in the case of my folks that were driving out from Texas.

Our next trip to Flagstaff would be to pick the kids up from the airport.  Or at least that would be the primary objective.  We will still have to do shopping for fresh foods and replenish the things we ate over the past month.  Plus, we are making this trip an overnight stay.  We'll meet my folks and shop for all the non-perishable stuff and then the next morning will shop for the perishables just before going to the airport.

Anticipation built over the next weeks.  Cyndee had been to Atlanta in February to see the kids but I had not seen them since leaving Georgia in June of last year.  With plane tickets purchased and only 24 hours until arrival it was finally becoming "real".

The kid's plane arrives just before noon on Saturday so we started our four hour drive to Flagstaff on Friday morning early enough to get to places like the bank before they closed.  And once we got within range of a cell tower we could start texting with my folks to keep track of their progress and know when to meet them at the hotel we were both staying in.

Just in time for dinner we finish our shopping and my folks are already at the hotel and checked in.  We get on over there, load up and head for a local eatery called Satchmo's.  It is a tiny little place, hard to find behind the Chevron station on Fourth Street but they have some pretty tasty choices.  It is a restaurant with a split personality, one side of the menu is Bar-B-Q and the other is Cajun.  You have a choice of four items on each side.  Orders are taken at the counter and you seat yourself and get your own drinks.  The tables are covered in butcher paper and there is a box of crayons for those with artistic flare.  Cyndee started adorning our table cloth immediately.

We all went to the Cajun side of the menu, three of us getting the blackened shrimp po'boy and all getting some red beans and rice.  Was it good? You better believe it!

As good as dinner was it turned out to have a down side.  The trip from the panhandle of Texas to Flagstaff was a change in elevation from 3200 feet to 7200 feet.  My mother has been battling blood pressure control for years and despite having it well in hand for some time now, the change in altitude has got her all out of whack.  She told us the numbers and they were scary high.  To think that we would be adding another 1200 to 1600 feet on top of that the next day gave us pause.  We have already had 23 deaths at the Grand Canyon this year, the majority being from stroke and heart failure, not accidents.  If Mom is to go on up with us tomorrow, her BP is going to have to settle down or risk tragedy.