After camping in our chosen spot which was quite good and quiet we wake up in the morning and prepare for our long day. What it entails is that we eat a summary breakfast from our provisions while the cars is defogging and just re-energize from being in nature. And then it is time to drive to the North Rim developed area. Here there are cabins that we wanted to reserve but we gave up in the end as there wasn’t availability even a year in advance.
Instead we eat some breakfast/early lunch at the lodge, we know it is buffet style but what it means is that you have to order and they bring it to your table. Not really what we expected.
We start the touristy part of our visit by visiting the viewpoints closest to the lodge. The major viewpoint is Bright Angel Point with some good views of Bright Angel Canyon which is the rote the North Kaibab Trail down the canyon is following.
On the Rim the trees do not grow very large as they get hit by lightning and are strongly stunted by the wind so they look a bit like bonsais stuck in some beautiful poses.
The trail to Bright Angel Point is quite popular with the viewing platform and the trail to it never empty during our visit.
Another special point is Cape Royal Point at the end of the North Rim road with some beautiful 360 views. Nearby is the interesting and scary Angels Window where people walk over the natural bridge to the viewpoint.
As we continue exploring we are surprised at how close people are going to the Rim, we are not surprised that quite a few actually fall into the canyon every year.
There are even some old Anasazi ruins here that we have to explore and they have a very weird name for an Indian ruin, Walhalla Ruins. Either way it is fun to explore them even if they are relatively small. And then after visiting also Point Imperial it is time to leave the North Rim and make our way back.
As we return we explore a few more things on the way. House Rock Valley Road is one of the areas that we explore briefly and we decide it is not a good place for camping in summer but might be worth further exploring for wildlife another time.
Then it is time to pass through the red rock area. It is as impressive going back as it was going to the North Rim and we stop a couple of times for photos.
