North Rim. Again.

On Wednesday, I begin a four-day mini-vacation to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  If this sounds familiar, it's because I've made similar Grand Canyon visits repeatedly over the years, each commemorated with its own post on this blog.  Most recently, I visited the North Rim in July 2022.

On my first North Rim visit, in 2013, I hiked down the North Kaibab trail as far as Roaring Springs, a 9.4-mile round trip to a point three thousand vertical feet below the rim.  It was an exhilarating hike, although I arrived back at the rim, five hours after I'd set out, exhausted, thirsty, and suffering from the August heat.  Luckily there is a water fountain where i was able to refill my water bottle on the way back up, at Supai Tunnel, 1.7 miles from the top.

In 2017, as the indolence of advanced years began setting in, I made it down only as far as the Supai Tunnel, a 3.4-mile round trip.  In 2022, I ignored the trail down into the canyon completely, but did a number of hikes on trails along the rim and back into the plateau at the top.  One of those trails, the Uncle Jim Loop Trail, 4.7 miles in length, was reasonably strenuous with some steep ups and downs.  Others were longer, if one wished to go their full length, but easier walking. 

Since 2022, I've developed arthritis in one knee.  It doesn't keep me from walking reasonably long distances, but does make me cautious.  I don't see myself plunging down the North Kaibab Trail any substantial distance, certainly not to Roaring Springs, but I'll be out on other trails.

A four-day visit to the Grand Canyon from Seattle really means two full days at the canyon.  I fly to Las Vegas, rent a car, and then have a five to six hour drive to the North Rim.  But that will be plenty of time to do a little hiking; tp hang around the lodge, perched on the very rim of the canyon, enjoying the view with an IPA in hand; to have great meals in the lodge's beautiful dining room; and to sleep soundly in my very own cozy, rustic cabin.  (Grand Canyon Lodge itself has no sleeping accommodations, but is surrounded by acres of rental cabins.

The North Rim is far quieter, less touristed, and more sedate than its South Rim cousin.  It is so remote  that you feel as though you're in a separate world once there.  The fact that I can't resist returning, year after year, is the surest recommendation I can give.  I love it!

---------------------------------------

Photo:  Sunset view from near the lodge (2017)