Over the next few posts I am going to show you the most magnificent natural features on this planet. Knowing where to point the camera was not a problem because everywhere was a photo just waiting to be shot. So keep watching this space.
We’ll start with the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The vast majority of tourists go to the south rim and we will get there too. Eventually. But while planning our itinerary we found that the North Rim would be closed on October 15th so we pointed the car in the northerly direction and off we went. To get an idea of the geography of the region I have added a map and a 9 minute video which is our edited day out. The video doesn’t show you the North Rim Scenery itself just the journey but it will give you an idea what the countryside here looks like.
Go Loopy and Enjoy.
The day started at Fredonia where we were staying. We drove down the 89A to Jacob Lake (we never did see a lake) then turned right down the 67 to North Rim. Doing 65 MPH at only 1500 RPM really gives you the appreciation of how good this V8 RAM is (have I told you lately how impressed I am by it?).
P.S. When I initially posted this blog I forgot to add the location of the video of our day trip to the post. The video is of the trip itself not the sights. I edited it so you could see the roads we travel on and some of the scenery about here in Arizona/Utah region. Click here for the video. For the photos scroll below to the galleries.
North Rim
The North Rim, at 8200 feet is some 1200 feet higher than the south. The drive is incredible. From the lower grasslands we rose through the forest towards the rim. The colours were vibrant. Among the evergreen pines was scattered stands of deciduous trees now turning gold in the autumn sun. In the parking area we grabbed our cameras and set off down Angel Bright Point, the main lookout on the North Rim. The ‘trail’ is a narrow, windy, bitumen path that at times is less than a metre wide with vertical drop-offs on either side. However it IS worth the nervous walk. The views are stunning and like nothing else I’ve ever seen.
Moving on.
After lunch at the lodge and a peek in the visitor centre we jumped in the car and started back to Jacob Lake (still didn’t see it) but turned right towards Bitter Springs. This meant driving alongside the Vermillion Cliffs eastward. This took us alongside the Colorado River to Marble Canyon and the twin Navajo Bridges. Just before getting to the bridge we made a stop at the Cliff Dwellers Lodge and had a look at some stone dwellings. Another stop was warranted at the bridge where we caught a glimpse of a rare condor resting under the roadbridge.
A Road More Travelled
From the bridges we turned south down the other side of the river before turning left at Bitter Springs. From here we had done this road before. In the recent post “California to Utah” I have described the rest of this trip. Up a steep hill to a lookout where Navajo women were selling jewellery and crafts (you can see where we’ve come from in the photos below the lookout), past Horseshoe Bend, down to Page and through Big Water back to Kanab and Fredonia.
Moqui Cave
Five miles north of Kabab, Utah is Moqui Cave. It was once used by the local Anasazi and Navajo Indian people as shelter and for storage. It has been owned by the Chamberlain Family for half a century now. At first the family used it as a ‘night club’ before being transformed into a museum. In it they display a huge range of items from ancient dinosaur track fossils to gems and minerals to Native Indian artifacts.
There’s More to See Yet.
As we drove out of the carpark we noticed several caves across the road so we went to investigate. Behind a fence and guarded by a large stone Indian totem we could see more caves and a waterhole. This gave us the idea to drive up a nearby road up a canyon where we could see yet more caves and some strange rock formations. It was easy to imagine this area as a popular Indian meeting place in years gone by.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane.