The North Rim of the Grand Canyon

It was a late night getting into Page, AZ but a good night sleep, local suggestions, and a free breakfast and we were off to see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The drive there was easy and it didn’t take too long. We were aiming to camp at DeMotte Campground and I was anxious to get there so as to secure a site (first come first serve). Just a couple of hours after leaving Page and we were setting up with the blessings of the DeMott camphost, Roy. Roy looks like Festus from the old Gunsmoke TV show. RIP. Worn cowboy hat, pants tucked inside of his boots and a long barrel pistol, to scare away bears, he says, and a country twang finished off the ensemble and made for a perfect greeting to two nights of camping in the Grand Canyon.

 It was a little cool when we arrived and I noticed that we had very little trouble getting a site. Turns out that the winds have been blowing 40-50 mph and the chill in the air was only going to get chillier. (Can’t plan the weather.) We set up camp, grilled hotdogs for lunch, and made our way into the park and to the Lodge at North Rim. I know it sound cliché but Wow! Our first sight of the Grand Canyon was, well, breathtaking and I assure you it wasn’t the 50mph gusts doing that. My youngest explained it perfectly by saying that it doesn’t look real. It looks like a painting or a picture.  The vastness of the canyon is so great that your eyes have a hard time focusing. It’s like your autofocus on your camera when you try to take a picture of the sky or something. It just can’t focus. I felt the same way. The depth and breadth of the canyon created a sensation I have never felt. I am having a hard time coming up with the right way to describe it. Beautiful and lucky to live in such a wonderfully diverse country also comes to mind. Thank God for digital photography because that first ten minutes would have cost us a bundle in film development in the old days.

We took it all in and decided to head back to camp for dinner (a 25 minute drive) and to finish setting up our home for the next two nights.  We were lucky in that Roy said it was still safe to have a campfire just keep it low and we could collect whatever was on the ground to burn. Well that kept Nolan and Riley busy for the next few hours. The wind died down as the sun set and as the temperature dropped. It got cold that night. There was ice in our drinking water container the next morning.  Getting breakfast ready for the three boys  was a little more bearable with the hot camp coffee.  As the sun came up, it warmed up and began to feel a little more comfortable.

The first night in the tent at DeMotte I looked at the brochure the Grand Canyon ranger gave us at the gate and we discussed what to do the next day.  We decided to hike the Cape Final Trail. It seemed doable.  Our hike meandered through a pine forest and eventually followed along the rim and exposed more breathtaking vistas. The most amazing thing to me was the lack of other people. There were the occasional couples or smaller families but we were pretty much alone to enjoy the experience in peace and quiet.  Amazing that something was so incredibly beautiful, and no crowds.

We took a another slew of photos and finished back at the parking area for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich picnic and granola bar lunch and we were off to explore smaller but no less spectacular hikes. We made our way to Angel’s Window. Again, I can’t describe the absolutely incredible feeling I got standing there with my sons looking out over this geological masterpiece.  We spent the rest of the day taking pictures that we knew Mom (Michele) would never let us take when we bring her back here on our way back.

Another cold night at DeMotte and we were up with coffee, scrambled eggs and tortillas and loaded up the Suburban and drove about 4 hours to our accommodations Mom/Michele had set up for us in Vegas. Let’s just say that the South Point Casino and Resort was not the quaint family resort away from the glitz of the Vegas strip. We figured that out pretty quick at the registration desk located in the lobby/casino/adult playground. Complete with slots, blackjack, and vampires betting the farm on the next roll of the dice, and not to mention the thong clad waitresses who kept the beverages fresh for the above mentioned Vampires. Needless to say, the boys and I, smelling like camp smoke and dusty from camping and Red River and the North rim were ….surprised. And this was our camp site for the next two nights before we headed to the East Sierra Nevada Mountains of CA.

I can sum up pretty much the experience when as  we toured the Vegas strip from the safety of the family trickster we drove past the world largest gift shop of “naughty toys “ and my youngest wanted to know what a naughty toy was . Or when my thirteen year old read the ad on the back of a bus reading, “Hot Babes, Direct To You”  featuring two very attractive young ladies dressed very much like the waitress at our “campsite”.  Riley just read it out loud, looked at me and snickered. OK, time to get these boys to bed. I couldn’t wait for Mom’s/Michele’s help as she was going to be arriving the next day.

(click on any photo to enlarge)