Theresa · Mather

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is much closer to us than the more frequently visited South Rim, so it's where we go most often. It's higher than the South Rim, and heavily forested. The lodge closes for the year on October 16 although the park stays open until the snow seals it in for the winter, or November 30, whichever comes first. We decided to get a final visit in before the lodge closes.
At this time of year, we were expecting autumn color. We never expected to see the elusive park buffalo, which used to keep to the back country, yet there some were right past the park gates. Judging by the number of "chips", they come to this field frequently.

We saw lots of animals, including about 40 wild turkeys, grouse, deer and a rare kaibab squirrel, which is a large charcoal grey squirrel with a black belly and white tail.The regional deer population is teeming- we saw tons of them all the way back from the park.

More autumn gold- the aspens were gorgeous in the miles and miles of forest and field between the gate and the canyon.

You can see the Colorado River in this picture. The elbow of the river is a delta where ancient native peoples lived and farmed in winter, climbing up to the area where the picture was taken to live in the heat of summer. There are traces of ancient structures in both locations, and atop a nearby mesa where an 11 room storage building was located.


This shows how much higher the North Rim is than the other side of the canyon.


The strangest moment had to be encountering the Insane Clown Posse tour bus on highway 89A between the canyon and Kanab, Ut.
A cool stop along the way is at Jacob Lake, where the circa 1920's motel has a nice dining room adorned with outstanding Navajo weavings and other art. The gift shop has kachinas and pottery created by top Hopi artists as well as more affordable gifty things. Plus it's the only restuarant before you get to the canyon, so if you didn't pack your own lunch or eat in Kanab or Fredonia, this is your only choice for a stop. Fortunately, it's a good one- they even bake all their own bread and pastries.
The lodge at the Grand Canyon North Rim is thankfully no longer run by Xanterra. Based on what we saw, Xanterra would lure workers from other countries and essentially trap them and overwork them , and the effects of chronic understaffing and overworked staff rippled through the whole experience. Hopefully they will stay gone as it was so much more pleasant to be served by people who seemed happy to be there and were plentiful enough to get the job done. The restaurant is pricey but is now worth it. The dining room has big glass windows and hangs on the edge of the canyon. If you're really lucky you can see California Condors soaring over the canyon as you munch your lunch.

We had a five mile hike all to ourselves, not seeing any other people the whole time. We set out in late afternoon -Barry insisted that there would be enough daylight. Fortunately, the moon came up and was bright enough that I didn't stumble into the canyon while trying to find my way back. A little more adventure than I planned on, maybe, but all ended well.
Yay for national parks!