Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Theres a change of pace...

The wind picks up in the middle of the night, whipping around us on the canyon floor and reminding me that I'm a light sleeper... as morning rolls around though the wind dies down, and a warm glow fills up the gorge from the top, the sun slowly melting down the rocks like molasses.

We pack away the tent and drive through towns with names like Hurricane, Kanab, Fredonia and Jacob Lake before topping out at 8000 feet on the northern rim of the grand canyon... its cooler up here. Its a change of pace, its quiet, more reserved, removed from the desert that surrounds it - like some elitist neighbour in the run down part of town. Its green, the elevation gives it an alpine feel, its rustic, the old hotels here were built in the railway heydays of the 30's replete with singing bellboys and evening talent shows from the summering college boys and girls who worked here in spats and starched collars and gingham dresses. This is where "The Shining" surely is in real life - it even closes in the winter with only a few caretakers and the only access by snow-mobile...

Our first real view of the canyon is even through the windows of the "sun room" here, age stained wooden handrails, leather couches, black and white photos of long gone visitors... The room is almost more interesting than the view - only due to the fact that a fire rages on the canyon wall some miles away and has filled our view with grey smudge... its still wonderful though - gazing down towards the Colorado river(though you cant quite see it from the hotel) through the haze - the miles and the millions of years to the bottom.

Of course we're not staying in the hotel - we reluctantly drive back to our allotted campsite to set up, wondering when we'll see the canyon again. The ranger at registration smiles at me when I check in:

"Wow... you have no idea..."

"Pardon? You mean our site - is it a good one?"

"Oh you'll see..."

Turns out we're practically hanging out over one of the side canyons, setting the pegs and lines as the setting sun fires everything into a pink glaze around us, the pines move above us in the breeze and I cook chili, beans and rice on the camp stove and the kids eat spagettios from their blue plastic bowls.The wind ominously picks up but thankfully retreats to just tickling the treetops for the night as we slumber on the edge of the chasm...

The girls take a morning hike with us to the lodge in the morning and we celebrate with hot chocolates, we spend the rest of the day exploring the nearby mesas, letting the girls play and gazing down at the huge dropoffs and generally being anxious about kids and cliffs!

I'm not sure what to make of the North Rim - its probably the most relaxing camp we've had - its like a resort - a lot to see and take in, but you can really kick back and just do that - theres no amazing hikes to be had (that we could do anyway - I'll elaborate later) and the views, while amazing had less impact on me than say Zion or Canyonlands... I await with baited breath how the South Rim develops... we'll be there soon...