To the North Rim and beyond!

Flagstaff, AZ to Jacob Lake, AZ (more sightseeing!)





    
May 25-May 30, 2016




Having seen the South Rim of the Grand Canyon many years ago, we decided to head for the North Rim.  It's kind of a dull drive and could aptly be called "bad lands" but once you get to the vermillion cliffs it just gets more and more picturesque.   

Vermillion Cliffs

At the cliffs you turn left, skirt along side them for quite awhile, then you begin to climb.  The North Rim is over 1000 feet higher than the South Rim and the scenery gets better and better.  This picture was taken at a pull off where we bought several items from some Navajo women.  The kicker was that two of the three women had a "Square" attached to their tablets, allowing us to use our credit card to charge our purchases.  This, as you can see, in the middle of nowhere!!!  Isn't technology wonderful.

We decided to stay in Jacob Lake (well actually all the campgrounds were full in the park itself) and drive to the rim in our car.  It's 42 miles just to the North Rim lodge itself, and that doesn't include some rather lengthy side trips that must also be seen for the complete experience.  We got up the next morning and headed south and almost immediately ran into snow!  It didn't last long but the skies were overcast for much of the day.

 

Due to the weather the gift shop was doing a brisk business in cold weather clothing.  We bought the requisite Tee-shirt then gazed into the canyon and marveled at the power of the Colorado River to create such an amazing place. Had a quick lunch at the cafeteria then we retreated back to Jacob Lake.  By now all the snow was gone but the sky was still overcast.

Grand Canyon from the North Rim looking west from the lodge.

Grand Canyon from the North Rim looking east from the lodge.

The next day we drove north to Pipe Spring National Monument, a place with a very interesting "Native American / Mormon / Ranching" history all revolving around the presence of "water" in a very dry place.

The Paiute Indians called this area home for generations before the white man came. The local springs provided their water.  Mormons came and bought the land, then built a "ranch house" which covered the access to the spring.  They used the area to graze huge herds of cattle that members had tithed to the church.  The area was severely overgrazed and really hasn't recovered even to this day.  Wives from plural marriages where sometimes hidden at the ranch house to protect their husbands from prosecution.  Butter and cheese were made and sent weekly from this lonely outpost to St. George, UT to feed the workers who were building a Mormon temple there.  It was a busy place in it's day.  The monument is now on Paiute land and is jointly managed by the park service and the Paiute nation. 



Exterior of the Ranch House at Pipe Spring



Interior courtyard of the ranch house.



Kitchen

One of the bedrooms.

Cheese and butter making room.  The spring water flows through the wooden
trough then out through the wall as shown below.

 

The water continues across a courtyard and into the man made reservoir below.

A lovely place to sit and enjoy the shade.

Part of an extensive fenced in area for cattle, horses and gardens.

The weather was back to sunny so we decided to return to the North Rim so we could complete our tour.  We lucked out because the local herd of bison decided to make an appearance about half way to the rim.

The lodge (hotel, restaurants, bar, etc.)

The weather was perfect so we spent all day exploring.  Here are a smattering of pictures - none of which do justice to the beauty there. What makes the North Rim unique are the numerous side canyons stretching northward from the river below.  They are the result of water running southward along the north plateau toward the Colorado river.




We walked out on this "fin" of rock as you can see below.

 

 

 

The north rim gets about 500,000 visitors a year - only 10% of the number of visitors to the south rim.  It's also closed from about October to May due to snow.  Never-the-less, big buses full of people are now a common site here.