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The Largest Drainage Ditch - Part 3B

Thursday, May 19th – Vermillion Cliffs to Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim, Arizona – Day 98 

Our time at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was done apart from a few photos on the way out. We were heading to the Grand Canyon North Rim. 

On the way we stopped briefly at Cliff Dwellings where there were structures built around and underneath giant boulders directly off the highway. 


Gen was driving and after taking some switch backs up the side of a cliff, we entered the Kaibab National Forest. Gen was amazed at how similar this forest was to one we might see at home. It was a boreal forest with many pine, spruce and aspen (looking very similar to Birch) trees and many similar animals. It felt like driving through Canada. Gen felt the drive through the forest was worth the trip to the north rim. 

We arrived at the North Rim with only a faint idea on where we were going to stay but we beelined for the visitor centre area to check out the sunset. The visitor centre was closed but we refilled our water and looked for a place to watch the sun go down. We found the perfect place, Bright Angel Point. John was a bit scared as we ventured out onto the path that followed a point jutting out into the canyon. We climbed onto a rocky outcropping to take some photos and admire the view. The view was spectacular. 


The North Rim has a magnificent lodge with a dining hall that has floor to ceiling windows looking out on the canyon. Gen checked it out and resolved that we had to come back for lunch the next day. There are also cabins you can rent complete with rocking chairs that allow you to sit and look out onto the canyon. We might have to rent one for future visits. 

Next stop was the campsite to see if they had availability. They did not. We had several employees tell us to set-up in the parking lot and I was on board with that plan, but we asked too many questions and the camp host said a ranger would tell us to leave late at night if we are found. We should have done it anyway. Instead, we drove just out of the park, 15-20 minutes away, turned left on a forest road and followed it until we found a nice pull off in the woods. We set-up and went to bed.

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