North Rim of the Grand Canyon - October 7-13, 2017

North Rim of the Grand Canyon - October 7-13, 2017

Poor Bambi … his “channeling medium” failed to post anything about his trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. 

So, to at least try to capture the trip, Bambi will provide a retrospective look at the trip.

We left Tucson on October 7, brimming with confidence that we’d be able to find a camping spot at our tried and true Bonito Campground at Sunset Crater National Monument … alas, we did not count on hunting season. After much scrambling, we found the last campsite in Flagstaff at Greer’s Campground.  We tucked ourselves into amongst the behemoths and counted ourselves fortunate.

On October 8, we drove to the DeMotte Campground at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  We would be “dry” camping for this trip and needed to conserve battery power and monitor water usage.  After we disconnected Fritz from Bambi, we drove to Grand Canyon National Park - North Rim to the Visitor’s Center (alas, no movie to watch) and walked over to the Lodge, the hiked the Bright Angel Overlook Trail (2.0 miles) to catch the end of the day coming over the Canyon.

On October 9, we hiked the Cape Final and Cape Fear Trails (5.2 miles) for a different view into the Canyon.  The morning temperature at DeMotte Campground bottomed out at 18 degrees.  The water in the campground pump was frozen.  We are at the tail end of the camping season on the North Rim … aspens have turned yellow and already fallen.

On October 10, we hiked the Ken Patrick Trail to the Uncle Jim Trail (4.7 miles) and had our lunch out on a peninsula overlooking the entirety of the Canyon, glimpses of the Colorado River below. We spoke to a couple who told us about the terrifying fires in Napa Valley in California and the late night evacuation of their daughter who was working at a vineyard/winery.  

On October 11, we ventured into the Canyon on the North Kaibab Trail as far as the Red Wall Bridge (5.2 miles).  It was quite a warm day and we felt the heat as we made our way back up the trail.  Paul had become increasingly aware of the challenges of his deteriorating hip.  I wish that I had an excuse, but I was just hot, tired and challenged by the struggle to climb back up the trail.

On October 12, we left the DeMotte Campground and headed to the KOA in Flagstaff … we didn’t want to repeat the problem that we had of not getting a site at BonitoCampground.  It is clear that winter will be happening soon …

Home again on October 13 … Bambi goes back into storage.