June 21, 2010 – Monday -North Rim and the Navajo Bridge

We were on the road by 9:00 am. We traveled south from Kanab on a road, alt 89, with soft shoulders and no banking curves. We traveled through the Kaibab National Forest where there were areas showing the damage done by a 2006 forest fire. We saw a few deer. We soon arrived at the North rim of the Grand Canyon. We visited the bookshop and walked the rim and took lots of photos. I avoided going down hill very far, but Donald went as far as all the lookout trails went.




In order to go to the South Rim we had to go back the same route through the Kaibab Forest to Jacob Lake and then back on alt 89. It was backtracking, but we saw new things as we traveled along the same road. In one of the fields a small herd of bison were grazing very close to the road.






The route sharply turns south at the Navajo Bridge. The bridges cross the Colorado River prior to carving the Grand Canyon. The shiny metal bridges, one for cars and one for pedestrians, were very high over the river where we could see the rapids and tour boats which looked very tiny from the height of the bridge. On the river bank Indians had set up display tables with jewelry and other crafts.



We continued south on Route 89 to Cameron where we picked up Route 64 and entered the North Rim National Park. Our first view of the Canyon was at the Desert View where we hiked along the rim. The Watch Tower at Desert View was being repaired, but people were still allowed to go up into it. We took photos, but skipped climbing the tower. We were excited to be able to see the Colorado River that looked very green. We stopped at almost every viewing area along the South rim. It was five pm before we got to Grandview. We decided to leave and drive to Williams, Arizona, to the hotel since we were hot and tired.


Our plans will be different tomorrow. We are not going to Sunset Crater, some national monuments and Flagstaff. Flagstaff is on fire. According to the radio, 900 acres have already burned and the fire is 0% controlled. We could see the smoke from route 89 as we traveled south today. Instead we will go back to the South Rim in the morning and then visit Grand Canyon Village since we had to leave without seeing it today. Then we can travel to Henderson, Nevada in the afternoon.

We had a great supper tonight at the Doc Holiday restaurant attached to this hotel. Donald had steak with bourbon and mushrooms and I had codfish.