Well, here we are fixing to wave “goodbye” to September at the Grand Canyon. As we do so, we’re experiencing a spate of very warm weather that came on the heels of some very cold weather.
Welcome to autumn in Northern Arizona. Indeed, not one but two Grand Canyon area destinations logged record low temperatures recently: Flagstaff, which got down to 27 degrees on September 18th, and Bryce Canyon, which actually had TWO consecutive days of record low temperatures, when the mercury plummeted to 19 degrees on the 23rd, and 22 degrees on the 24th. BRRRRRRRRRR! Bring your coats here, y’all.
It was pretty dang cold up at Grand Canyon North Rim when we went up there last week, too. At 8,000’ above sea level, that’s not at all unusual. Ron W., a GrandCanyon.com associate, actually camped up there last week!!! Ah, youth…. we may hear from him a little bit later about his trip.
Right now, time for MY (overdue) Grand Canyon North Rim Trip report:
Friday, September 22nd, 12:00 N: The gang from GrandCanyon.com leaves Page/Lake Powell, Arizona and set out for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The day had started on an ominous note with some large gray clouds and gusty winds, but by the time we hit the road, the disturbance has moved east, clearing the way for a near-perfect autumn day! At about 1.00 pm, we make our first stop: Lees Ferry, the beginning of the Grand Canyon.
From atop Navajo Bridge, this (photo on right) is what we see. Although part of Grand 
Canyon National Park, this section of the Colorado River is known as Marble Canyon. It is said that this part of the canyon was named during John Wesley Powell’s 1869 expedition down the Colorado River, when someone remarked that the canyon walls were very colorful and its texture resembled marble. Just upstream from where we stand is Lees Ferry and the Lonely Dell Ranch.
Our boss Karlyn regales us with stories of how, as a young man, he drove a bus for a Colorado River white water rafting outfitter. This was during the days when a one-lane bridge spanned the banks of the Colorado at this place. The bridge had become so rickety, he said, that it would tremble under the weight of the big busses that transported Grand Canyon river rafters to where their trip would begin. But that was the only Colorado River crossing available until you got too Hoover Dam 270 miles downstream, or to Hite Marina upstream.
Fortunately, another bridge was constructed about ten years ago that is MUCH sturdier, and they were nice enough to leave the old bridge still standing, which now functions as a footpath for visitors, and a favorite spot for the California Condors. The big birds, reintroduced to the area about 10 years ago, like to hang out on the rock ledges in the shade of the bridges. There is a nice gift shop at the Bridge, and nearby is Marble Canyon Lodge, cabins, a fly shop and a really nice dining room
There we are on the old bridge. After a quick photo stop, we move on. Our next destionation: Jacob Lake.
The road zips straight to the west. This is some of the loneliest, yet prettiest country you’d ever care to see. To our right, the Vermillion Cliffs rise. We pass a tiny complex called “Cliff Dwellers.” The place consists of a lodge, a restaurant, a fly shop and a small airstrip. Lees Ferry is a world-class fly-fishing destination. The trout there are HUGE. Also, the restaurant at Cliff Dwellers is probably Northern Arizona’s best kept secret. A friend of mine was there recently and had one of the chef’s specials, a middle-Eastern style dish, complete with falafel – I’m not kidding, falafel, in Arizona! She said it was delicious. Karlyn (a foodie, like myself), notes that we should come down here for lunch sometime.
Then, the land starts to rise. In the space of about 20 miles, the terrain morphs from high desert to forest – the Kaibab National Forest, to be exact. Patches of wildflowers emerge on the roadside, yellow, purple and white. A healthy monsoon season 
has given them a “second wind” late in the season and they’re absolutely beautiful – and deceptive: this profusion of life makes the swath of destruction that awaits us all the more shocking.
About 10 miles before we get to Jacob Lake, the blackness starts to materialize. This is what I’d been so curious about for so long. On June 8th, lightning ignited what would come to be known as the “Warm Fire.” Managed as a “Wildland Use Fire,” winds whipped the blaze into a frenzy that would go on to char 60,000 acres of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. We encounter a small patch of blackened Ponderosa pine trees, burnt down to their trunks. Then it becomes green again, then another patch, and another. This, I am told, is nothing compared to the primary burn area we’ll soon see.
We pull into the Jacob Lake Inn. We started our travels at about 4,300’ – now we’re about 3,000’ higher and 15 degrees cooler. And believe it or not, most of us have ice cream on the brain! The Jacob Lake Inn is a quaint, idyllic property built in 1923. 60 miles North of the North Rim, is has cabins, motel rooms, a gift shop, and a world-famous old-fashioned diner. Here, they still make their cookies from scratch and their milk shakes from real ice cream! I opt for a chocolate shake and a “Parfait Cookie,” which look like a chocolate chip cookie on testosterone.
Of course both are delicious, and the Jacob Lake Inn is the warm, welcoming place I remember it to be. One “note to self” is that they don’t have a public internet connection, but if you bring your laptop, their newer motel rooms do have access, but the Jacob Lake Inn is actually open year-round, so when the Grand Canyon Lodge closes on October 15th, you can still stay there and drive into the North Rim, provided that the highway hasn’t been snowed upon. If not there, then in Kanab or Page, which are 1.5 and 2.5 hours away respectively.
We pile into our cars and head toward our final destination: the North Rim. About ten miles down the road, we 
are engulfed in blackness. I have to fight back tears. We are in the main burn area of the Warm Fire. It looks terrible. Trees that once stood tall and green upon the Kaibab Plateau were nothing but black toothpicks. The forest service has already begun cutting down some of the trees that were in danger of falling over, but we notice that some other precarious ones have been left standing. Who knows what’s up with that.
Looking up is depressing. Where green boughs once made a canopy, there are just pointy black hulks. Looking down, I see hope: grasses have already begun growing here, no doubt nourished by the ash. Also, saplings of quaking aspen dot the forest floor. I am told that their root systems are horizontal, and, new growth is already sprouting from the roots of other trees miles away. This year, their leaves are green. In the future, they’ll multiply till they cover the forest floor and turn orange and yellow along with their older counterparts.
The burn area continues for about 20 miles, and then, just like that, it changes to the type of scene that makes autumn so wonderful out here: pine trees, aspen and birch trees around a huge meadow, a tapestry of green, orange, gold and beige. The image of death and destruction is pushed out of our minds as we marvel at how spectacular a day this has turned out to be.
This is the type of thing you won’t see at the South Rim. At 7,000’, it’s not quite moist enough for deciduous trees to survive. But up here at the North Rim, they thrive along with several species of oak and maple trees which accent the tableau with hints of orange and red. The colors were almost at their peak last week; they’ll probably be on the wane after next week.
We pass the Kaibab Lodge and the North Rim Country Store, enter the park gate and head towards Imperial Point, the highest point on the canyon rim. Here, we see what the Warm Fire area will look like in the future. We could tell there was a fire here in the past, as the patch of dead trees reminds us. Time has turned them grey. Some have fallen, most are still standing. At their feet are dozens and dozens of young aspen trees, radiant in their fall regalia. This drive is so beautiful. The trees are rather close to the road (and no, nobody planted ‘em there!) here; this is what a drive in the country should feel and look like.
We get out of our vehicles at Imperial Point and just stare. We watch a couple of helicopters go by, no doubt the people inside them are having a grand ol’ time. Grand Canyon helicopter tours fly above the South Rim and just about even with the North Rim, so even though they technically don’t venture below the rim, you still feel 
more like you’re down in it in comparison to an airplane.
From Point Imperial, we make our way to the Grand Canyon Lodge. We just watched a video at the office about some of the grand old National Park Lodges, where we learned that a mere 4 years after opening in the 1920’s, the 
Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim was consumed by fire. The building we now enter was its replacement, designed by Stanley Underwood, who was also the architect of Yosemite National Park’s Ahwahnee Hotel.
The way the building was designed, you park your vehicle, go into the lodge, then see the Grand Canyon when you enter the “rotunda” off the dining room. It’s quite dramatic when you see it for the first time! The rotunda has these high, vaulted ceilings, and on the walls, photographs from the “olden days.” There’s even a statue of “Brighty,” that famous burro who endeared himself to many in real life and on the big screen.
The big room has indoor seating where folks can gather for cocktails and such. The “showpiece” (IMHO) is the lodge’s massive porch. Built of native stone on the very rim of the gorge, it looks to emerge from the canyon 
itslef, and it was designed that way. It’s a favorite place to watch the sunset, that is precisely what we have come here to do. The crew mills about, some standing, others opting to sit on the rustic-style wooden chairs provided. Park rangers make ready to light a fire in the oversize fireplace in back of the porch, where nightly programs are conducted on various topics.
Soon, the sun sinks, and the temperature drops like a stone. Up here it gets cold quick after the sun goes down, making me glad I packed gloves, scarf, etc. I put them on and head inside. Next item on the agenda: more food! We have a 6.45 pm reservation, but the dining room, huge as it is, is still packed. We wait for another 20 minutes or so and finally get seated.
The Grand Canyon Lodge dining room is a place where you definitely want to have reservations for dinner. You can make them up to 2 months in advance and it’s suggested you do so. The menu is just shy of what you’d call “upscale,” but prices are reasonable. The crab cakes with chipotle appetizer is a favorite amongst the group. Entrees consist of steak, seafood, chicken and my favorite – pastas. I choose the Pasta Sublime, which is linguine tossed with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and chicken in a white wine sauce.
Service is a bit on the slow side and somewhat inconsistent this evening. My table gets its entrees quickly, whilst another table is still waiting for its appetizers. They’re short-staffed, as is evidenced by all the “help wanted” signs plastered all over the place. It’s the time of year when all the college-age help has left and they have to make due with the staff they have. My chosen dish is very tasty, though.
Due to the wait for the meal, and seeing as though we had our goodies before dinner, we opt to skip dessert and head on back to Page, America. Heading back to the car from the lodge, my memory is refreshed about how dark it gets up here. There isn’t much in the way of artificial lighting up here, and you’ll find that to be the case in most of your National Parks. So I was kicking myself for not bringing along a small flashlight ‘cause Sandy J., whose vehicle I was heading home in, was parked aaaaaaaallll the way at the back of the parking lot!
But hey, every trip to the Grand Canyon is a learning experience, even for those of us who’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been.
So there ya have it, folks! We’ll keep ya posted on the status of the North Rim as winter approaches, and remember, the Grand Canyon Lodge closes October 15th.
Til next time, Happy Travels! 
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