On Sunday (7/6), we climbed back in the van for about a 3 hour drive south to the Grand Canyon's North Rim. It is the less visited rim. Most people go to the South Rim, and that is also where most of the pictures are taken. I have never been to the Grand Canyon; Jeremy had hiked the South Rim to the river and back, but had not been to the North Rim. The North Rim is very forested, at a higher altitude, and more green in general. We took a 4 mile round trip hike to the tunnel. This way we had hiked into the Canyon.
This, to the left, is Jeremy at one of the views on the hike down. It was a very sandy trail covered in parts with mule manure. (Side note: They use mules to take people down the canyon because mules, unlike horses, don't drink water while they travel.) Going down is always easy and the unique thing about the Grand Canyon, or Bryce, is that you start by going down and end with the tough part - going up. Claire and I made it to the tunnel; that's us
in the tunnel to the right. (Jeremy, Emmy, and David just wanted a short hike and went not much further than the first lookout.) It was breezy and cool in the shade of the tunnel, which was a good break before heading up. The way up was hot, hot, hot. We were sweating profusely and really working to get up. We made it up in about the same time as it took to go down. I think the reason is because we didn't really stop for pictures or wait for those taking pictures. We met this 60 year old
man who for the last six years has met his daughter at the Grand Canyon for a rim to rim to rim trip. On day one, they hike from the south rim to the north rim - 24 miles! Then, day two, they would relax at a campsite on the north rim. On day three, they hike back from the north to the south rim - another 24 miles! Crazy if you ask me, but very impressive! We took David and Emmy to the lodge, and the rest of us headed to Cape Royal by car. It was about a 45 minute car ride to the lookout point. When we got there, it
was threatening to rain. So, we jumped out of the van and walked very fast to the look out point. When we got there, we stood on the edge of the rock looking out over the canyon and the menacing sky (see pic to the left). That is when we realized that all of our hair was standing on end due to the static electricity in the air from the lightning. Yikes! So, we quickly made our exit off the rock and away from the view. We climbed into van and headed to the lodge. This last picture to the right is taken just outside the lodge. You can, from an area near the lodge, across the canyon. You can even see the two trails going down the canyon wall to the river. Pretty cool. We had our supper in the lodge before heading back to the campsite in Zion.
On Sunday (7/6), we climbed back in the van for about a 3 hour drive south to the Grand Canyon's North Rim. It is the less visited rim. Most people go to the South Rim, and that is also where most of the pictures are taken. I have never been to the Grand Canyon; Jeremy had hiked the South Rim to the river and back, but had not been to the North Rim. The North Rim is very forested, at a higher altitude, and more green in general. We took a 4 mile round trip hike to the tunnel. This way we had hiked into the Canyon.
This, to the left, is Jeremy at one of the views on the hike down. It was a very sandy trail covered in parts with mule manure. (Side note: They use mules to take people down the canyon because mules, unlike horses, don't drink water while they travel.) Going down is always easy and the unique thing about the Grand Canyon, or Bryce, is that you start by going down and end with the tough part - going up. Claire and I made it to the tunnel; that's us 
in the tunnel to the right. (Jeremy, Emmy, and David just wanted a short hike and went not much further than the first lookout.) It was breezy and cool in the shade of the tunnel, which was a good break before heading up. The way up was hot, hot, hot. We were sweating profusely and really working to get up. We made it up in about the same time as it took to go down. I think the reason is because we didn't really stop for pictures or wait for those taking pictures. We met this 60 year old 
man who for the last six years has met his daughter at the Grand Canyon for a rim to rim to rim trip. On day one, they hike from the south rim to the north rim - 24 miles! Then, day two, they would relax at a campsite on the north rim. On day three, they hike back from the north to the south rim - another 24 miles! Crazy if you ask me, but very impressive! We took David and Emmy to the lodge, and the rest of us headed to Cape Royal by car. It was about a 45 minute car ride to the lookout point. When we got there, it 
was threatening to rain. So, we jumped out of the van and walked very fast to the look out point. When we got there, we stood on the edge of the rock looking out over the canyon and the menacing sky (see pic to the left). That is when we realized that all of our hair was standing on end due to the static electricity in the air from the lightning. Yikes! So, we quickly made our exit off the rock and away from the view. We climbed into van and headed to the lodge. This last picture to the right is taken just outside the lodge. You can, from an area near the lodge, across the canyon. You can even see the two trails going down the canyon wall to the river. Pretty cool. We had our supper in the lodge before heading back to the campsite in Zion.
No comments:
Post a Comment