A quick side trip to the North Rim….for a night on the ground.
We were close so we figured we’d check it out. We left the rig and packed the tent and sleeping bags into the Miata and headed out on the drive through fir and aspen forest with open meadows, quite different from the South Rim where its scrubby juniper and pinion pine. It’s 1000 feet higher over here than on the south rim. They had a big snow a couple days ago….just traces in sheltered areas today. The views from the rim are wonderful; the very best was from Walhalla plateau….a broad bowl shaped amphitheater with great color. We hung out for a beautiful sunset.

We still plan to head to the South Rim in a few days.

Perspective from within.
A “day hike”. Wow…the north Kaibab trail to Roaring springs. 13 miles round trip descending; then or course, re-climbing, 3050 feet. I got a very real feel for how huge this canyon really is. It would have taken another 3 or 4 miles on the trail to even get out of this one canyon of majestic stone walls and the roaring spring that flows from mid-layer along the cliff.