Grand Staircase: Grand Canyon - Day 5 and 6 (click once on any photo to display full image)
9/5/2014 and 9/6/2014
Escalante (Day 1) Escalante (Day 2 and 3) Kanab (Day 4) Grand Canyon (Day 5 and 6) Zion (Day 7) Zion (Day 8)

North Rim of Grand Canyon

We only allocated 2 days for the Grand Canyon because the road that led to the remote section of the park was supposed to be closed during the time that we were going to be there, so we thought we would spend the first day doing a couple of short hikes near the visitor center and then hike into the canyon on the second day. However, when we went to the visitor center at the end of the first day we found out that the road was open, so we managed to drive to the remote section of the park and squeeze in another hike after our canyon hike the next day. That turned out to be a lot of hiking for one day, but it was worth it because otherwise we would have missed that section of the park which ended up having the best views. We even saw a rainbow at one of the canyon overlooks when it started to rain at the end of the day. All of the hikes were good, but the one we did into the canyon from the south rim 20 years ago was better than this one from the north rim because we were able to reach the bottom of the canyon from the south rim trail whereas the north rim trail is too long to go all the way to the bottom and back up in one day. Also the top portion of the north rim trail was not enjoyable because it was covered with mule droppings so it was impossible to step around all of it and then on our way back up we had to keep stopping and stepping aside to let the mule trains pass. There were about 4 of them with a lot of mules in each train which was really annoying because it took a while for them to pass and most of the trail wasn't that wide so we had to find a place to step aside in advance and then wait. I didn't think it was appropriate to allow mules on the trail for tourist purposes because some of the riders were inexperienced and couldn't control their mules, and it didn't seem fair for the mule riders to basically rule the trail and ruin it for the hikers. At the very least the number of mule trains allowed should be limited to a reasonable number. There were mules that used the south rim trial too but it wasn't nearly as annoying because there weren't as many at that time.

Mo compares a drawing of The Grand Staircase to the real thing at LeFevre Overlook (south of Fredonia) on our way to Grand Canyon. This overlook offers the best view of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The Grand Staircase is a massive geologic phenomenon that defines millions of acres of landscape in southern Utah and northern Arizona. Made up of five defining "layers", the oldest layers of the Grand Staircase are found at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, while the newest layer makes up Bryce Canyon. Starting with the oldest layer first, the stair steps (indicated by the red dots in the drawing below) are named for their general color: chocolate, vermillion, white, gray, and pink. As the landscape shifted over the millennia from lakes to sand dunes to rock, the Grand Staircase was formed by tectonic uplift along the Colorado Plateau, which fanned out and exposed the various layers of sediment and rock.

Views along Widforss Point Trail near the Grand Canyon's north rim visitor center. The deep and sheer-walled ravine in the photo on the right is known as The Transept.

Panoramic view of the Grand Canyon from Widforss Point at the end of the trail.

Views from Bright Angel Point near the Grand Canyon Lodge.

Beginning the descent into Grand Canyon heading to Roaring Springs (the park’s recommended destination for day hikes) on the North Kaibab Trail.

Can you see Li peering over the bridge in the photo on the left? In the photo on the right, Mo points out that the only source of water for the north rim village is pumped from the springs below.

Are we there yet? Based on the park information, it should have been a relatively short hike of 4.7 miles to the springs, but our GPS app indicated that it was 6.5 miles.

Despite the additional miles (and having to cope with the mule trains on our way back up from Roaring Springs), we still had time afterwards to drive along Cape Royal Road to the remote southern most section of the north rim, which had the best views of the canyon, although our photos did not do it justice. A short hike led to our first view at Cape Final,

followed by views along the walk atop Angel’s Window (can you see the people in the photo on the left?), and the last view from Cape Royal Lookout at the end of the road (photo on the right).

We chased the best spots for photos of these double rainbows that appeared after the rain. The first one was from Walhalla Overlook,

and the next one was from the Vista Encantada picnic area.