Leaving St. George, we drive through Hurricane, quite a busy town. Then we are on this road surrounded by mesas, no trees just brush and red sand. Apple Valley, Hildale.
Arizona, Colorado City. Road straight ahead flat horizon. Moccasin Mountains. Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation. Pipe Spring. Fredonia.
LeFèvre Overlook - three very old Paiute ladies selling their handmade jewelery. They told me it takes them one hour to come to this spot to set up. They rotate to give everyone a chance to make money. It goes without saying that I purchased some of their jewelery. Very nice.
At Jacob Lake, we stopped at the Visitor Center and bought a map which gave us detailed roads into Kaibab National Forest where we could camp overnight if we can't find space at the campground in the Grand Canyon North Rim Park.
The Kaibab Plateau-North Rim Scenic Byway has been described as the most beautiful 44 miles in the USA - it winds through dense forests and alpine meadows to culminate at the North Rim. Unfortunately, we found that there is a lot of damage from forest fires along the way and once inside the Park.
At 1 pm we were entering the park. It is their first day of the season. There is snow on the side of the road. Their campground is full. We filled up with water for our off-road camping.
The place is buzzing. From the parking lot, we walked to Bright Angel Point, a paved narrow trail bordered by evergreens and rocks which leads to a spectacular view of the canyon. What added to the excitement of this walk was the 50 plus mph wind which buffeted us along the way. Looking down, we were at an elevation of 5000 ft. WOW!! Spectacular. Went on to few more viewpoints each one windier than the next but just as spectacular. We were glad they had metal bannisters to hold onto.
We continued on the path to the Grand Canyon Lodge which was built in 1928, burnt in 1932 and rebuilt in 1937, a very handsome stone building, surrounded by log cabins. We sat in rocking chairs on the terrace and later on attended a very interesting lecture on the geology of the Grand Canyon given by a young geologist from Pennsylvania.
Finally, we headed to our off-road campsite, right in the pines, on a road which had been cut off by a fallen tree. No neighbours tonight. The moon is out, a beautiful but cool night.
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