GRAND CANYON, NORTH RIM -3

Today we did some hiking after a wonderful breakfast at the Lodge with Vickie and Sharon. Vickie and George traditionally had a birthday breakfast the first week in August so we continued the celebration this year. After breakfast I dropped George at the trailhead for the No. Kaibab Trail and then headed for The Widforss for a hike of my own. This is considered the most beautiful hike on the North Rim.

Transept Canyon

George hiked down to Supai Tunnel and unofficially did his PSAR thing of helping hikers, and passing on information about the trail. I was doing the same thing on the Widforss Trail. I hiked about two miles out before turning around. The Widforss is a pleasant hike with some rolling ups and downs along the rim of the Transept Canyon with woodlands, wildflowers, and views into the Canyon. After our hikes we met back at the Admin area as we had promised Bill Archard that we would check in with him. We finished close to the same time.

Lupine Pattern

Emerging Mushroom

Delicate Mushroom

Gnarled Tree

After a rest back at our cabin, we headed out to “The Scenics” and stopped at the various viewpoints. As we drove South we could see a storm brewing. Our first stop was at Vista Encantada. Here you get a view North to Pt. Imperial and Mt. Hayden; and to the East across the Canyon to the plateau and on to Navajo Mountain.

Mt. Hayden from the South

At Roosevelt Point,

View from Roosevelt Pt.

A Closer Look

We could see several squalls on the East side of the Canyon. When we got to Walhalla Overlook the storm was occurring in the Canyon in front of us. We enjoyed watching and photographing it. Our patience paid off as we saw a double rainbow over the Unkar Delta. 

At Cape Royal we saw more squalls developing to the West.

 

Back at the Lodge we followed a lightning show on the South side of the Canyon. Regrettably the activity was about ten miles away so there was not much of a photo

opportunity. Sharon, I believe put in a good word for us,

and we had a window table looking out to the South. We

were able to see new light distractions from Tusayan, south of Grand Canyon Village. Still, it was a very pleasant ending to our visit to the North Rim.

Night Show from the Grand Canyon Lodge

The next day was a day of driving. It is about a 12 hour drive to San Diego. We got home early enough to pick

up Phoebe from the kennel and get a much needed walk in for all of us.