Nieka and Ken Go West
Day 6: North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The view looking upstream from the original Navajo Bridge.

Another early day (some vacation!). We set off for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at 7:30. We headed along US 89 south to Navajo Junction, where we picked up Arizona 89A. Navajo Junction is a small town, put on the map (quite literally) when the first bridge across the Colorado River was built in the early 1930s. After walking part way across the old span (now pedestrians only), we got back in the car and continued west along the Vermilion Cliffs.

We arrived at the North Rim about 10:30. We went straight to the main visitor center and had some leftover pizza from dinner last night. The first trail we hiked was out to Bright Angel Point, an overlook that juts out into the canyon between Roaring Creek and the Transept. From this vantage, we could see the South Rim's Bright Angel trail that leads down to Phantom Ranch on the canyon floor. With binoculars, we could make out buildings on the far rim.

Our next hike took us along the canyon rim on the Transept Trail to the campground, about 1.5 miles west of the lodge. We saw squirrels, hawks, chipmunks, hawks, ravens, and what we think was a sapsucker. This trail has some nice vistas looking down over the canyon.

Toward mid-afternoon, we got back in the car and drove along the canyon rim road out to Cape Royal, at the tip of the Walhalla Plateau. A half-mile hike took us past Angel's Window, a side-trail on a natural arch in a promontory over the canyon. The trail winds over the top of this arch out to the promontory. Ken was less than thrilled with the seemingly tenuous hold on terra firma, but Nieka quite enjoyed herself.

We continued on the main trail to Cape Royal itself. From this spot, we had spectacular views of the Colorado River, the Freya Castle, Vishnu Temple, and Wotans Throne. We then made our way back along the same road we entered, stopping at various overlooks.

Angel's Window at Cape Royal.

Near the Walhalla Overlook we saw the ruins of an ancient Anasazi stone structure at the top. At the canyon floor, the same tribe had their winter home -- the heat of the Canyon was such that they (as we!) avoided it in the middle of August.

Anasazi Ruins at Walhalla Point.

Gathering Storms from Roosevelt Point, Grand Canyon.

The last hike we took was at Roosevelt Point. We had the trail mostly to ourselves (passing only a few other groups on the way). The silence and the stunning vistas were almost overwhelming. Back at the parking lot, there was a more crowded overlook, from which we watched a tremendous summer storm gathering strength far across the Canyon and the Kaibab Plateau to the southeast. We saw many lightning strikes, but heard not a hint of thunder.

Wild Turkey and Chicks.

On the way into the park, the road had been blocked by a wild turkey and four chicks who were crossing the road for their own reasons. On the way out, we saw a larger brood -- two adults and at least six chicks, who were very happily eating bugs along the side of the road.

Storm Clouds from Navajo Bridge.

The weather held off until we neared Page at the end of our drive home, even though the clouds were following us along our route. We'd pulled over near Lee's Ferry, about 30 miles from Page, and were sitting in the car when lightning struck a few thousand feet in front of us. The brilliance of the lightning and the sharp crack of the thunder convinced us to get a move on home. By the time we reached Page, the sun had set and we saw the most incredible lightning storm. Cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning were almost constant across more than 180 degrees of horizon. This was the first of the monsoon rains to hit Arizona, signaling the beginning of the change of seasons from summer to fall. We were treated to this light show for the next 30 minutes, until we reached Page.

Dinner was at Fiesta Mexicana. The rain started falling while we were eating, and continued for several hours. The rain was quite welcome by the natives, less so by we tourists....

More pictures from today