Grand Canyon - Phoenix to the North Rim

The instructions from Just Roughin It (JRI) instructed that I would be picked up about 4:30 am and we got the call from the front desk a few minutes before that time that my transportation had arrived.

So here is Don the driver. I actually took a jacket with me because I wasn't sure how cold it would be at the North Rim or what the temperatures would be in the canyon on the first night. It turned out I didn't need the jacket so I left it in my duffel bag.

It's a large SUV that can hold seven.

It also has to hold all the backpacks as well as our luggage. Don was pleased to see that my bag was so small. Fortunately, my fellow hikers also had small bags.

It was dark when we set off but gradually it became light as we headed up to Flagstaff.

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The route up to the North Rim.

There are a lot of pictures in this blog and most of them were taken through the car windows, but I want to give you a sense of just how varied the scenery can be. If you want to see more detail in a photo, you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

The dawn started to appear and the area was quite dry and arid.

Sunrise.

We stopped at the Starbucks. Those who like their coffee bought some. I just bought a blueberry muffin.

It's not all arid on the way to Flagstaff. Some areas are quite green.

At Flagstaff, Don filled up the SUV for the drive up to the North Rim.

The San Francisco Peaks with telephone wires. They are the remains of a former volcano.

Petrol costs about 10 cents more here than what we paid back home.

So here we have our guide Kelli loading her backpack onto the rack at the back of the SUV. Her pack weighed between 70 and 80 pounds, approximately twice what we brute males were carrying. No doubt she will be pleased at this most elegant first view of her in the blog. Don't worry Kelli, your face is 'just around the corner'.

Some of the guys did the gentlemanly thing and offered to carry some of Kelli's load. Little did we know what a powerhouse this young lady would turn out to be. Being and old codger and worried enough about the weight of my backpack, I gave the gentlemanly thing a miss.

The blue sky reminded me of the winter sky in Brisbane.

Closer view of the mountains.

So we continued on to the north along Route 89.

We crossed the Little Colorado River. To the right is the old bridge which is now used by pedestrians.

We were delayed crossing the new road bridge while a wide vehicle crossed.

The Little Colorado flows into the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. The Colorado used to be coloured red until the dam was built. Now it has a green colour except when the Little Colorado gets a lot of water in it, usually because of cloud bursts.

These weird mounds are apparently created by the wind.

The land around here is part of the Navajo reservation. When tourists are around, they set up these little stores selling blankets and other artifacts. Don the driver is a retired teacher and he was very knowledgeable and informative about the sights we saw along the way. I did not get a photo of one but I was intrigued by the Hogans, the traditional dwelling for the Indians.

The turn off to route 89A which eventually would lead to the North Rim.

The Vermillion Cliffs. The photos don't do justice to the colours in these cliffs.

I enhanced the colours in this photo to give you a better idea of what the cliffs looked like.

More of the Indian stores.

It's barren but spectacular country.

The bridge over the Colorado River. The next time I would see the river would be at Phantom Ranch.

Eventually we climbed up towards the plateau that leads to the North Rim.

Finally the turn off to the North Rim. The road had only opened the day before, May 15. The road closes again in mid October because of snow.

Because of all the pine trees, there are bad fires. The areas of devastation were very large, as bad as the areas of devastation we saw near Melbourne two years ago. (Scroll to near the end of that blog).

The small white trees are Aspens. The taller ones are Douglas Firs. Along the way we passed huge forests of  Ponderosa Pine (if I recollect correctly what Don told us).

There was still snow in shaded places and some lakes and pools formed from snow that had melted.

Finally we arrived at the entrance to the National Park. We arrived about 11:30 after leaving at 4:30 so it was quite a drive. We all agreed that Don was an excellent driver and most informative and friendly.