The Grand Canyon, North Rim, Arizona

While the North Rim is only about 10 miles from the South Rim it's a long drive because there are no bridges and you must drive all the way around the canyon. The drive East, then North to Page, AZ for a couple of errands, then west to Jacob lake to the 40 mile access road took us about 8 hours. Entering the North Rim is completely different than the South. The land is rolling hills, ponderosa forest and huge open meadows. Unlike the south rim, there are no views of the Canyon until one reaches the rim. It would be possible to drive all the way into the North Rim, park your car, walk into the North Rim Lodge and across the lobby to the windows that look over the canyon before you got a view. And what a view it is. At the North Rim, the views are not as broad, but are much more intimate. You are much closer to the Canyon features here than at South. The Campground is perched on the rim along the Transcept Canyon looking directly at Oza Butte.

For our first adventure we chose the Widforss Trail which took us back along the Trancept to the head of the canyon. The hike starts about a mile from the campground. We biked to the trail head via the bridle paths. After losing a few hundred feet of altitude to reach the trailhead the trial climbs back up to the rim through ponderosa forest. Once on the rim we hiked along the edge with occasional dips and rises for about 3 miles to reach the head of the Transcept Canyon. We could have gone another few miles to reach Widforss Point but since it was mostly in forest we elected to go back and save our energy for tomorrows hike below the rim.
The North Kaibab trail runs from the rim, down through Bright Angel Canyon to the Colorado River at Phantom Ranch. We knew Phantom Ranch would be too far for a day trip so decided to head down as far as we felt comfortable making it back up to the rim. If you click on the above photo and look carefully right in the middle of the picture you will see a bridge crossing the canyon some 2,500 feet below the rim. That's our destination!
As we descended into the canyon we were amazed by the myriad colors of the canyon walls, especially vibrant in the early morning at the beginning of our hike. The trail winds incessantly down through more switchbacks than we cared to count. As at the South Rim we always had to be aware that the trip down is less than half the trip and we had to save sufficient energy reserves for the trip back up. Several times we met the mule trains hauling people or supplies up or down the canyon. If you wish to visit below the rim but don't feel up for the hike this is a great option.
The North Rim, with it's many moods of color and light is indeed a much more intimate picture of the Grand Canyon than the South Rim. Not better, maybe a little prettier, a lot less hectic, but very different. I can't decide which I liked better and would have to recommend both to anyone planning on visiting the Grand Canyon. If you have only enough time to do one...I wish you good luck with your choice, either will be wonderful.

NEXT: We leave Arizona for New Mexico - Navajo Lake and more spectacular Ancient Ruins.