On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
frosty
North Rim: The Arizona strip between the Canyon and Utah. We visited it from Kanab UT.
Once more opting for less traveled areas of a National Park, we spent a day at the North Rim of the Canyon. We saw the South Rim on a family trip in 2004, and since then I wanted to see the other side. Apparently only 10% of Grand Canyon visitors get here; understandable because it’s quite remote from Flagstaff, Phoenix, and other parts of Arizona. It’s a 200 mile drive from the South Rim to the North, so it makes more sense to add it to a trip to see the Utah parks, which is what we did.
Nevertheless, there were a lot of people visiting, especially considering it opened for the season on May 15th. The parking area for the Kaibab Trail down into the canyon was jammed, with cars parked on the road on both sides. This set of pictures was taken from the lodge area at the edge of the canyon.
On our way back to where we were staying in Kanab, we drove out Cape Royal Road, which had several overlooks, seeing parts of the canyon that aren’t visible from the South Rim. We also saw evidence of fires on all of our drives, some prescribed, some not. Fire suppression in most of the 20th Century changed the ecology and the intensity of the fires that occurred.
This was our first view of the canyon.
Bright Angel Point trail. This is a short trail from the lodge to a point with 270 degree views, some of the best from either rim. At the point in the picture, it is narrow with drops on each side. It would have been an easier walk without winds gusting in the 30s and 40s.
View from Bright Angel Point
View from Bright Angel Point
The North Rim Lodge was built in 1937 by the Union Pacific Railroad. It overlooks the canyon.
View from Roosevelt Point, on the Cape Royal Road. The Vermilion Cliffs are in the far distance.
This is a view of Walhalla Overlook above Angels Window, which is named because the Colorado River is visible through the hole in the arch.
Aspens don’t thrive when there’s an overstory blocking sunlight. Intense fires destroy the Ponderosa Pine overstory and ultimately convert the forest to aspen. Less intense or prescribed fires clear out the understory so more pine seedlings can take root. This area burned in 2006.
lowtechcyclist
The phrase “pictures don’t do it justice” was practically made for the Grand Canyon.
I can’t speak for the South Rim because I’ve never been there, but walking along the edge of the North Rim of the Canyon was like turning the world’s most amazing kaleidoscope: every twenty feet, the view was incredible in a different way.
JanieM
@lowtechcyclist:
Totally agree.
I hiked in the Canyon for two weeks in 1972 and again for a shorter visit in 1984. It’s my second favorite hiking place after ONP, other-worldly, beautiful, dangerous, varied.
Thanks for the pics, Frosty. They bring back great memories.
YY_Sima Qian
Nice pics! I like the experience on the North Rim, much less crowded, though much of the canyon view is against the light w/ the Sun being slightly south. The dawn & dusk views on the South Rim is magical, though.
eclare
Beautiful photos!
tom
@JanieM: What is ONP?
Gorgeous pictures, Frosty!
HinTN
Roosevelt Point looking northwest toward Vermilion Cliffs is a wonderfully different experience of the Canyon. I hope to get to the North Rim soon. Love the South Rim, especially at sunset, but you do have to look beyond the crowds.
Albatrossity
Several years ago (it seems like a lifetime) I visited the North Rim for the first time, and sent some photos to Alain for this On The Road post.
It is indeed a marvelous place; I need to get back there someday.
MazeDancer
Wonderful photos!
MelissaM
Thanks for this. My husband and I had a GC trip planned for May 2020, and I had thought to see the North Rim as well as staying at the South. Now, we do have rooms booked at the South for March 2022, but I doubt we’ll get to the north (and I’m skeptical that we’ll go at all next year. We’ll see.) So these pictures give me an idea of what I’ll miss if I don’t do a North Rim trip.
In 2018 I accompanied my mom on a bucket list trip to the canyon (Amtrak trip.) I’ll have to submit those to OTR. It was a lovely time, and 88yo mom did quite well with the altitude.
frosty
@lowtechcyclist: My vote for “pictures don’t do it justice” is Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Stunning in different ways than Zion or Grand Canyon. It’s narrow, vertical, and deep, and not one of my pictures looking toward the bottom captured the feeling of looking down at the river.
There will be an OTR post from there coming up later in the series.
JanieM
@tom: Sorry, ONP is Olympic National Park.
Miss Bianca
@frosty:
Ah, the Black Canyon! *My* backyard! : )
YY_Sima Qian
@frosty: Definitely agree on the Black Canyon!
J R in WV
We actually bought tix for a sightseeing plane trip from the South Rim, was a great experience. One lady, German, was a claustrophobic, freaked out just before take-off, they were very considerate, helped her out of the aircraft. She missed a wonderful flight. Pretty sure some photos from that flight were OTR some time back.
Actually flying into the canyon lets you feel how big it really is, plus great views. Pilot was young, once we landed I asked him his age, was still a teen… did a great job, tho!
pat
And all that in just 6000 years!
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tom
@JanieM: ah, thanks. A work colleague, who lives in Tacoma, hikes there and has posted stunning pix. I’d love to go someday.
TriassicSands
@pat:
To be fair to Bishop Ussher, he placed the beginning at about 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC. That would be approximately 6025 years ago. Needless to say, those extra 25 years make all the difference.
MelissaM
I wanted to add, when I went with my mom to GC, we did a tour with a great guide who made an extra stop for us to point out some fossils at one of the overlooks. Water fossils (I can’t remember what they were.) Super cool, and that was probably laid down in the early part of the 6,000 years ago thing, eh?
louc
I just got back from a trip to the South Rim. My husband and I are already planning a trip to see the north side, plus Utah canyons. It wasn’t all that crowded until the weekend, so we feel pretty lucky in our timing.
And the pictures definitely don’t do it justice.
PS We also were privileged to see a California condor close up! It flew right over our heads as we were biking the west side of the South Rim
AZ Mike
I was lucky enough to live on the North Rim 1997-2000 (including two winters!) and just outside the park in the Kaibab NF 1991-1996. Definitely the most memorable years of my life. A truly magical place…