The
North Rim was closed for the winter season when we passed through April 2016 on
our trek North to Alaska. So our last
visit to the North Rim was nearly 20 years ago (we treated my Grandma to a
Las Vegas vacation for her 70th birthday and day-tripped to the
Canyon). Therefore, we decided it was high time we
took the 4+ drive to revisit Grand Canyon North.
We
stopped at the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center along the way. The bridge over the Colorado, constructed 1927-1929, was quite
an engineering feat for its time. Using
2.4 million pounds of steel and 500 cubic yards of concrete, the bridge spanned
834 feet with a maximum height of 467 feet from the Canyon floor, all at a cost
of $390,000. A new bridge was built in
1995 for vehicular traffic (at the whopping price tag of $14.7 million!), leaving
the original bridge for pedestrian and equestrian use only.
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The New Navajo Bridge, Built 1995, for modern-day vehicles |
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The original Navajo Bridge, on left, is now used for pedestrian/equestrian crossings |
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View of the Colorado from the Navajo Bridge |
We
marveled at the beautiful colors of the rock formations as we traversed through
Marble Canyon. And in Cliff Dwellers, we
were astonished at the size of the fallen rocks, some the size of Big Boomer!
As
we continued our trek, there were just miles and miles of open range and
meadows surrounded by cliffs and rocks.
Suddenly, we encountered boreal forests and the fresh scent of conifers,
pine trees, and aspens. We knew we were fast approaching the North Rim National Park entrance.
We
visited several lookout points like Wahalla, Roosevelt, and Bright Angel Point, as
well as Point Imperial, which holds the distinction of the highest elevation at
the North Rim (8,803 feet). It towers
1,000+ feet above Navajo Point, the highest elevation at the South Rim.
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We
stopped at Cape Royal lookout, home to Angel’s Window, a gap within the rock
formation that acts as a picture frame.
We also viewed Unkar Delta from Cape Royal. Unkar means red stone in the Paiute
language. So the Delta, where Ancestral
Puebloans lived and farmed centuries ago, is named appropriately for the
cinnamon-colored rocks that surround it.
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Angel's Window at Cape Royal. Don't try doing this, folks! This is a feat reserved for a stuffed rat! |
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Unkar Creek and Unkar Delta |
The
flowering plants at the North Rim were in full bloom!
I became ravenous from all the driving and walking we did. Time to chow down at the Chuck Wagon Buffet
at the Grand Canyon Lodge. The North Rim
is far less developed than the South Rim, offering a more rustic, natural, and
serene environment. The Lodge dates back
to 1937, when it was built to replace the original “Hotel in the Wilderness”
that burned to the ground in 1932.
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Statue of Brighty the Burro, the beloved character in the children's book "Brighty of the Grand Canyon" |
We
arrived by 5 p.m. and got a nice table by the window overlooking the
Canyon. The buffet had an adequate
selection of salad items, meats, and starches including my favorite mac and
cheese! It was a meat lovers’ paradise,
with a beef brisket to die for!
Hand-rubbed with seasoning and slow-cooked for 16 hours, it just melted
in your mouth! What a wonderfully
delectable treat (especially after the disappointing brisket at Big Daddy’s in
Fairbanks last year). At $27/adult and
$10/kids, they surely lost money on us with all the brisket we
ate! And Sharon from Iowa, our waitress,
only charged the $10 kids fee for me, saving me some of my allowance to spend
on Laughing Cow cheese!
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Beef Brisket, slow cooked 16 hours! So juicy and tender! I'm salivating as I'm writing this! |
After
dinner, we sat on the patio enjoying a cocktail and taking in the
gorgeous Canyon views. I was joined by a
local “resident”, wanting me to share a snack with him! I was sorry to disappoint him, but I complied with the rules of “no feeding the wildlife”.
The
South Rim was having itself quite a storm on the other side of the Colorado,
and we noticed storm clouds rolling in on the North Rim as well. So we headed indoors.
Our
employer, the Grand Canyon Association, has two retail stores at the North Rim,
so we popped in to catch a glimpse of life on the “other side”. What a relaxed atmosphere! They deal with a fraction of the guests that visit the South Rim Stores. We witnessed no chaos or bad behavior like we see at the two stores where my parents
work, which are the largest in size AND in sales volume within the entire GCA
8-store operation. I didn’t believe my Mom when she said how destructive and
rude people were until I saw it for myself when accompanying my parents to work one
day! Which leads me to Rambling RV Rat’s
Rant on Retail Shoppers:
...Teach
your children to see with their eyes, not with their hands. Retail stores are NOT the go-touch me museum!
...Teach your children a store is a place of business, NOT their personal playground. Climbing on displays or sitting in the middle of the
sales floor reading a book pulled off the shelf while picking your nose is NOT acceptable behavior.
...Adults
should lead by example; actions speak louder than words. You can’t tell
your children not to destroy things when you do it yourself! If you pick something up off a shelf, return
it to the place you found it. Handle
things with care to avoid breakage.
...Don’t
give your baby a stuffed toy to appease him/her when shopping. They drool on it, wipe snots on it, and
basically contaminate it with germs and you have the audacity to put it back on
the shelf for some unsuspecting buyer to actually purchase!
...When
we ask if you need help with T-shirt sizes, don’t say “no”, wait for us to
leave, and then destroy the display by pulling every shirt off the shelf or out
of its sleeve.
...When
we greet you and ask “how are you doing today?”, be courteous enough to offer a
curt reply. Even a grunt would be welcome, anything to acknowledge our meager existence and the fact that we spoke to you.
...I
don’t care what the customs are in your country. When in Rome, do like the
Romans! In the USA, we go to the BACK of
the check-out line—no cutting in front of others.
...If I am speaking with another customer, don’t interject abruptly, asking “do you
sell water?”, “where’s the toilet?”, etc.
If you are to the point of dehydration or wetting your pants, at least
say “excuse me” before interrupting!
Sorry,
I digressed…
It
was time to start our long trek back to the South Rim. There were lots of deer in
the meadows as we exited the Park at the North Rim. We stopped at the Jacob Lake Inn, an old
school motor lodge and curio shop about 40 miles outside the North Rim Exit
gate. It also housed a nostalgic
luncheonette counter style restaurant with red and chrome swivel stools, complete with an
ice cream stand and bakery. It
was no easy feat, but I found room in my swelled belly for a tasty chocolate
parfait cookie!
Sadly, another “weekend” is over. I leave you with yet another
spectacular sunset pic from July 27!
