September 17, 2008

September 17, 2008

On our way out of Page, AZ we stopped at Horseshoe Bend Lookout. A half-mile hike from the road gives us a spectacular view of an almost full circle meander of the Colorado River. It is similar to the Goosenecks of the San Juan, but larger and more colorful.

Continuing west, we cross the Colorado over the Navajo Bridge and follow the Vermillion Cliffs west. After a while we climb the canyon wall and continue up the 9000-foot Kaibab Plateau into a pine forest. A left turn will take us into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Before heading into the park, we take a detour to see Pipe Spring National Monument. Pipe Spring is the site of a water spring that local Paiute Indians used and later by Mormon Pioneers who built a fort around it. The surrounding ranch was initially run by the Mormon Church to generate revenue for Temple construction. Pipe Spring later became a haven for Mormon polygamists escaping prosecution in Utah. As a National Monument, it is in my opinion historically weak and insignificant and probably not well visited. Despite that fact we counted ten park rangers. While we were there four of the women rangers were having an extended discussion about clearing brush away from the sidewalk. These four spent at least an hour deciding how many inches should be cleared from each side without a single weed being removed. I couldn’t help laughing. This is government bureaucracy at its best.

Back atop the Kaibab Plateau, we head to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. I am a little miffed at the park service on the way in. They have tens of thousands of acres of forestland north of the canyon but can only manage to clear room for 83 campers, maybe a busload or two of visitors. The park service complains of low visitation at the north rim but can’t seem to accommodate more than a handful. Unfortunately for visitors it is a long drive to and from the North Rim. It is getting late in the afternoon and I am trying to decide whether to go in now or wait till tomorrow. We decide to head in anyway and see what we can. I am glad we did. The North Rim is not as spectacular as the south. Because the terrain slopes south here, the North Rim is heavily eroded while the south is more of a sheer drop-off. Instead of wide expansive overlooks, the north has only a few at the far end of long jettys. In fact the main viewing spot seems pretty crowded with just the half dozen people that were with us. The north rim is not designed for big crowds. Maybe in the NPS’s infinite wisdom the paucity of accommodations is their way of keeping visitation to a manageable level.

We are running out of daylight so we head out of the park and stay at the closest open campground, one in the Kaibab National Forest, some 30 miles from the rim. Much to my dismay, it starts to rain when we get there. But as they say, there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. In this case my pot was a full 180-degree rainbow, the first I have caught on film.