Kanab is about an hour and half from the north rim of the Grand Canyon and a trip to see it worked out at the end of my volunteer time at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, so I made a short overnight trip to go see this big ol’ hole in the earth that was on my list of national parks to visit. The north rim gets about 1/10 of the visitors compared to the south rim, so the north rim was a bit more my speed given my limited time. I got there in late afternoon and had sufficient time to explore the rim trails around the lodge area and get a bunch of photos with the changing light as the sun made its way to the horizon. There is about a 1000′ difference in elevation between the north and south rims of the grand canyon, with the north rim being at about 8000′ and the south at around 7000′, and I was feeling the effects of the high elevation, which forced me to slow down a bit, because you know… oxygen and such. Funny that.
The main lodge at the north rim has a large indoor viewing area with tall windows and two large patios on either side of that for taking in the view, with the trails just below along the rim of the vast crater. On either side of the lodge are all the cabins, and I had reserved the most rustic, which was fine for an overnight stay, as it was clean, had electricity and indoor plumbing, so happy days.
After some time along the trails and taking a bunch of photos, I got cleaned up for dinner in the large dining room of the main lodge, and it was quite lovely. An interesting aspect of visiting the national parks in the U.S. is taking note of the home state or country of all the staff, as it typically has that on their name badges. Just one of those details to notice if you pay attention to such things. I always noticed it, even before I was a bit of a nomad myself, with particular interest in people from other countries. After dinner, I was able to get a few more photos in the last remaining light, as the moon rose over the canyon.
The next morning, I got a few sunrise shots before getting back on the road for my short trip back up to the northwest. While it was a brief vist to the Grand Canyon, I enjoyed finally seeing this iconic landscape, and would like to visit the south rim at some point, as well.
Next up: Road trip to the NW and back down the SW. Stay tuned!
spacyshorts 