North Rim Grand Canyon 2011

[lam396]

This is my first trip report (and very late doing it) but wanted to get some pictures up since a lot of questions about the area were answered on the portal. We took a ton of pictures but I will select a few that I think represent the story the best and post those.

My wife and I left the house early Fri morning with our co-pilot, our 13 month old son.


We stopped in Denver to have dinner with some friends that we went to college with and we crashed for a couple hours at their place. They introduced us to "mountain pies". We got there around 4 in the afternoon and ended up hitting the road again around 3am.


We finally got to the main entrance Saturday afternoon and decided to turn off towards the Saddle Mountain area and the East Rim for our first couple nights of camping.

This is the view from our first campsite.

It ended up being a very nice camp site off the main road a little and there was very little traffic. We rode our bikes up the forest service road and looked at all the other view points. They were all as nice as next.

Gotta do food the right way while camping. Blueberry pancakes for breakfast the first morning!

We ended up taking a drive out to Marble View Point and it was great. At the end of the road it opened up and it would have been a neat place to set-up camp for the panarama offered.

After a couple days on the east rim we decided to go to the main park and check out the lodge and "main features" of the North Rim. It was impressive to say the least. Even though we had been there for a few days the East Rim just isn't the same as the Grand Canyon. The following pictures are all from the main road accessible by RV's and millions of people every summer.





More to come...

 

[lam396]

While we were at Cape Royal a storm approached but we were lucky to not actaully be in it. It looked just like a normal thunderstorm especially since it was in the mid 60's that day. But as we were leaving the park to go to our next camp spot which was supposed to be Point Sublime, we ran into this.

It seems the thunderstorm dropped a lot of sleet and slushy snow. It didn't really last long but it was cool to look at and made the road to Swamp Point a little bit more fun with standing water covering the whole road at several spots. Initially, we had a permit to camp at Point Sublime but the backcountry office called me that day to let me know that there was a natural fire on the point and they could move me to Swamp Point. I was slightly disappointed but how can you argue with nature. The road really wasn't that bad, just slow going. Eventually we got out of where it had rained and it was rock and dirt rather than mud. One thing I noticed in this area was the vast difference in the new and old growth. Some of those Ponderosa Pines were gigantic.

Our view from our campsite at Swamp Point


A storm came in the next morning and covered the whole canyon with fog. Visibility was down to around 10 feet. It was actually really neat because we could see the dense fog rolling up the canyon wall and over the rim.

Steak on the menu with fresh donuts and pressed coffee for breakfast


We took a hike down below the rim to "Teddy's Cabin". From what I understand, it's not the actual cabin that Teddy Roosevelt stayed in but rather it was constructed on the saddle that Teddy set-up his camp. I believe it was the North Bass trail head that goes down to the cabin. There was also a little spring nearby for fresh water if it was needed.


We happened to find a USGS marker along the trail about halfway down which was cool.

 

[lam396]

After the hike, the day was uneventful, just relaxing after the vertical climb out of the canyon.

After some pumpkin oatmeal the next day we packed up and headed to the next camp spot which was going to be outside of the park on a point along the Rainbow Rim


I thought the Klean Kanteen was empy but just after this we noticed he had the left over coffee all over his mouth and chin that settles at the bottom of a cup of presed coffee. Needless to say it's pretty strong so it was an interesting ride with him jacked up on caffeine.


We drove out to a couple of points to check out some camping spots and after looking at the open spots on Timp Point, North Timp Point and Locust, we decided to make camp at Locust Point. Considering how few people we saw at the East Rim and Swamp Point, I was a little suprised at how many camps were along the Points. They were spread out and we couldn't see any of them from camp though. This is view from our last campsite. Not too bad!


We spent the rest of day just hanging out along the point and in camp. Notice what happens to a diaper when they play in pine needles, they turn into a porcupine

Love getting help with firewood

Made some dutch oven bread

Awesome sunset and a couple star shots. This was the first time I had ever done night photography and some of them turned out suprisingly...well, decent






Started the next day off (which would be our last) with a hike along the Rainbow Rim trail. I found very little info on this trail online and a few members here gave me a heads up and it turned out to be a very nice hike. Someday when I don't have a trailer in tow, I would like to go back and bike it.

 

[lam396]

We ended up hiking on the Rainbow Rim trail for several hours and as you can see, the little guy slept for almost half of the hike. Must be nice! I had found very little info online regarding the Rainbow Rim Trail but luckily a couple of members here clued me in to it. It was a very nice trail to hike on but someday when I don't have a trailer in tow, I would like to go back and bike it.




Our last night ended up being very nice. We had a great dinner of sausage, peppers and onions in the skillet and our last sunset was GREAT. We couldn't have asked for a better night to end the trip.






The next morning we woke up real early and got the truck packed up and drove out of the National Forest and back to the main park. We used the pay showers at the campground and since we were so close to the lodge we decided to have breakfast there. They offered a full menu but also had a buffett which was very nice.

After breakfast it was finally time to leave and start the long road home. We went home through the Valley of the Gods and the whole area of S. Utah is something I want to go back and spend more time exploring.

After driving all day I really wanted to stop at Mexican Hat and eat at the Swingin Steak. As I was telling my wife about what I knew about the place from pictures on the portal, I was pulling in to the parking lot and she exclaimed, "There's a REAL cowday!" I had to laugh at that because I had just told her it was an old guy that wears a cowboy hat but I guess she didn't really believe me. That fire was HOT and it was already over 90 degrees in the shade, I wouldn't want to have to cook over that pit every night. The place was actually really cool but if you are expecting a large menu or you don't like steak, might not be the best choice. We were there right when they opened and the owner of the place was sitting at the table next to us. They talked to us for a long time and wanted us to stay the night at the hotel but we had a long road to go to get home so we declined.



From the time we left the Lodge at the North Rim, to the time we pulled into the driveway we had driven 33 hours and the total trip was just over 3,300 miles.

 

[TurboChris]

Great pics!

 

[Lichen]

Sweet report. I've pitched a tent at that same exact location at Swamp Pt. And yes, that is the North Bass Trail. More!

 

[lam396]

Great pics!

Thanks! It was hard to select a "few" to post.

 

[lam396]

Sweet report. I've pitched a tent at that same exact location at Swamp Pt. And yes, that is the North Bass Trail. More!

I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that we couldn't go to Point Sublime but we couldn't have asked for a better camp site. The trail head at the end of the road was a bonus to so I guess I'm glad we were able to be "relocated" to a wonderful spot.

 

[Danimal]

Thanks for sharing, looks like a really great trip!

So your son did okay with all of the driving? I'm planning on getting my son out starting this year - which may be a bit later than ideal as he's 2 now. Cute kid you have there.

Dan

 

[chicken corners]

Thank you, great report. Hope to hit some of those spots in June.

 

[lam396]

Thanks for sharing, looks like a really great trip!

So your son did okay with all of the driving? I'm planning on getting my son out starting this year - which may be a bit later than ideal as he's 2 now. Cute kid you have there.

Dan

He did really great considering how long the haul was. I was slightly worried but it ended up not being a huge deal. It was much better on the way there because we stopped after 12 hours or so for the evening at a friends house. He did get testy on the way home but we made a good effort to stop and get out for every meal and take long bathroom breaks and let him run around in the grass. We also had tons of toys and books to keep him happy. This little toy bought us several hours at a time, it was wonderful


Before this trip he had done several 7 hr each way trips to the in-laws and a 15hr drive to Florida. The only thing I can say is bring toys and snacks to keep him entertained and be paitent. The drive is half the fun anyways so everyone may as well enjoy it!

 

[lam396]

Thank you, great report. Hope to hit some of those spots in June.

Awesome, have fun and post some pictures when you get back! Not sure if you are travelling with kids or have it all planned out but here is a link to the thread that I used to more or less plan the trip. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/55200-Arizona-Grand-Canyon-May-2011. There are some other links in that thread that you may find to be more useful as well.