North Rim Grand Canyon

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Today we got up early. The campground we are staying at is in a National Forest called Kaibab. (pronounced, KI BAB). It is beautiful. We lucked out and got the best spot. Its a double site that has very tall pine trees next to it and too skinny for anyone to fit into so we have them both.

We are about 45 miles from the actual rim of the Grand Canyon. Last night we took a ride along the highway, (2 lane road), 22 miles. We stopped at Kaibab Lodge for dinner. It was excellent. It is very much like Walt Disney World's Wilderness Lodge. Huge ceilings with large beams of full tree trunks. Indian motif everywhere. The restaurant itself was simple but really good food. We ended up chatting with the people next to us, as we seem to do alot. They told us about their day and we told them about ours. People can be really nice when your just sitting back and enjoying everything around you. Everyone has a story and everyone wants to tell it. Its interesting. (well not for Tommy, he hates chatting with other people, but I love it!)

We were told of the 'famous water parade' that was held every 4th of July at the North Rim Lodge and I wanted to see it badly. After we entered into the Grand Canyon National Park we were stopped in the road because, I think, an accident. Not sure. There were about 50 cars in front of us will their engines turned off and people walking around. We decided to turn around and see other parts of the park first and then return to the lodge later on in the day. Smart move!!!

We first went to Imperial Point. Beautiful. They offer trails but we declined. We then went over to Cape Royal, another point on the rim. GORGEOUS!!!! We did hike a little over there. You end up on top of this rock on the very edge and you can see the Colorado River WAAAYYY down below.(The picture with the hole in the rock is the one we were on).

It was comical to me and Tommy while we were there. We have been so spoiled with being by ourselves that when we got to Cape Royal and we had to deal with other people, Foreigners, we became agitated. Everywhere we go, we go off the beaten path and rarely see other tourists.

After a while, we headed back towards the lodge. It is impressive. Lots and lots of log cabins. The lodge is directly on the edge of the North Rim. They offer a hundred things to do there. Mules rides down the canyon, white water rafting, tours everywhere, but the best was the water parade.

The fire advisory is High up here and they are not allowed to have fireworks - so they improvise. For the past 50 years they have the Forest Rangers and their firemen, along with all the young kids that work there for the season participate. They drive these decorated vehicles around the square and douse you with water. All the spectators are given water guns and there are trash can, after trash can filled with water. They open the fire hydrants and have hoses gong. It was so much fun. It lasted over an hour. It was the most fun we had had.

We then headed out back and grabbed a seat on the outside patio and just relaxed. We had ice cold Corona's and just chilled. It was great. (that's the picture with our feet).

Tomorrow we are taking out the Polaris and Tommy found some trail we are going to explore.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you had a great forth of July.