Monday, July 6, 2015

North Rim, The Grand Canyon

I've wanted to visit the Grand Canyon for years. I can't believe I lived so close and never went. We tried to go for my birthday a few years ago, but it didn't work out. I'm so so glad we got to go this year. It's only 3 hours from Zion, so it was the perfect addition to our little trip.
We started out the day by driving down from Kanab, where we stayed the night before. Our first plan for the day was to hike a short part of the North Kaibab Trail to the Coconino Overlook, which was about 1.5 miles total. The whole trail was a set of switchbacks down to the overlook. Because the north rim gets more rain and snow, there was a lot more vegetation than I was expecting. As we weaved down the trail we would every once in a while get these amazing views.
And when we finally made it to the overlook the views were pretty stunning. We met a group who were hiking rim to rim for a bachelorette party, which gave me a new life goal.
After this short hike we essentially drove from overlook to overlook to take in as much of the canyon as we could. I had heard the north rim wasn't as good as the south rim, and that it can be hard to see all the way to the bottom.

But I cannot tell you enough how amazing the north rim was, so instead I'll try to show you in pictures.
I think we read a sign that said the north rim is twice as wide as the south rim. So you may not be able to see the Colorado as well because of the expansiveness of the side canyons, but it is so much more impressive than I ever imagined. We went to Cape Royal Trail and Roosevelt Point, I think both of which you can see the Colorado from. We got to eat lunch sitting on the rim of the canyon. It was more perfect than I could ever imagine, and a great way to end our trip.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! What a gorgeous place.... Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.

Dad

h said...

YES! Awesome! We've been wanting to backpack/camp the Grand Canyon for awhile. 'Will take a bit of prep work!

AiringMyLaundry said...

So pretty! I love all the colors.

Ashley said...

Seriously GORGEOUS. I keep seeing pictures of the Grand Canyon and I also NEED to go, but I'm not sure what has kept me. And now I'll be moving. Grrrr.

Rachel said...

How incredible! It looks absolutely gorgeous--I think it would be hard to watch where you are stepping because the temptation to look up and around at everything is too great! I hope we make it there one day.

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