Grand Canyon National Park/North Rim, Arizona - Jacob Lake RV Campground 8/15 - 8/17 2020 Travel Tour

  From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com 
Tim and Linda Bunyan

We have departed the Lake Powell area in Glen Canyon NRA, Utah, and Page, Arizona through Marble Canyon on our way to the North Rim Grand Canyon for our RV stay at Jacob Lake.

In Marble Canyon, we cross the Colorado River which is part of Grand Canyon National Park.

The Navajo Bridge was completed and opened to traffic in January 1929.  Prior to the building of the bridge, the only way to cross the Colorado River and its formidable gorge were at Lee's Ferry a short distance upstream.

The undulating Vermilion Cliffs (appearance in a Britney Spears video and a Microsoft Windows screensaver) offer striking desert scenery and the best hiking options.   The sandstone, siltstone, limestone, and shale cliffs rise as much as 3,000 feet above their bases.

The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, 293,689 acres protect the Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes, and Paria Canyon.  Our road leads close to the Vermilion Cliffs on the right side of the Valley.  "They are so wonderful I can hardly take my eyes off of them.  Carved by wind and storm into peaks and facades as grand as Hawthorne's "Grand Stone Face.".  The cliffs are the brightest and deepest red of anything in the way of the earth that I have ever seen".---Sharlot Hall, 1911.

The Colorado River presents barriers to travel.  Over thousands of years, American Indians, explorers, and pioneers found the end of Glen Canyon.  Lee's Ferry marks one of the only spots a person can drive to the Colorado River in over 700 miles of canyon country, right up to the first rapid in the Grand Canyon.  In 1872, LDS settler John D. Lee was the first ferryman.  For 55 years assorted boats were used to transport a variety of travelers 

across the river at Lee's Ferry.

This photo below shows the Colorado River at the current boat ramp where once Lee's Ferry was the only way to cross the river.

Now fishing boats, fast motorboats, and 20' rafts are launching here for recreation!

Here at the very start of the Grand Canyon, adventurous river runners launch their boats for trips down the canyon.  We will come back for a 3-day river raft trip in the future.

There are historic and a variety of places to stay while exploring the area.

Marble Canyon Trading Post, originally ran by John Lorenzo Hubble a distinguished leader in Navajo trade and a well-respected man in the Navajo community.  He was instrumental in helping to bridge the cultural gap between the Anglo and Native American communities.

There are other fuel stations near Marble Canyon.  This Standard Oil one has a small wine selection, but cold beer.

The Vermilion Inn (Vermilion Cliffs in the background).

Open for business, but few visitors during this covid 2020.

House Rock Hotel in the Valley on Paria Plateau. named by the John Wesley Powell Expedition where they spent the night in 1871.  "Thanks, Little House Thanks Mr. Fireplace Thank you Mr. Man That built this place". ---Sharlott Hall, 1911

We continue along the Colorado River via Alt Highway 89 to Kaibab National Forest on our way to the North Rim.

Home on the Range.  Although Bison is not a huge part of Arizona history, an unusual chapter in the early 1900's Charles "Buffalo" Jones, a hunter, rancher, expert roper and former buffalo skinner had seen the bison's demise first hand, brought a herd of the animals to northern Arizona.  They were here on the Kaibab Plateau as a ranching experiment to crossbreed bison and cattle.  After a few years, abandoned the project, leaving some of the herd behind.

Now this valley is an ideal release zone for the California Condor.  There have been nearly 80 releases.  People can gather here for a unique opportunity to witness the release into the wild of endangered CA Condors.  Chris Parish, condor field project supervisor celebrates the condor breeding season each year.  The first breeding pair of condors has laid an egg in this remote area of the Kaibab Plateau.  The CA Condor has gone from only 22 birds left in the world in 1982 to nearly 300 today.

Kaibab National Forest.

We arrive at our Campground: Jacob Lake on the Kaibab Plateau at the junction of U.S. 89A and State Route 67.  .  Tim chose this as a First Come, First Serve remote area about 45 scenic miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  At the elevation of 7900 feet, the weather is comfortable in the high 70's.  No hookups, but we can be comfortable here for several days.  The overnight fee is $15.00 and with the Senior Pass, it is $7.50.

We are delighted with our site and it does have a bit of shade for afternoon comfort.  Jacob Lake has an Inn, restaurant, bakery, small grocery shop, and gift shop with an extensive collection of American Indian art.  I found a Roadrunner Pin made by the Navaho.  It is in my jewelry box now and I look to wearing it soon.  We first spotted Roadrunners at the Wahweap Campground in Glen Canyon!

A campsite site visitor, the Western Blue Bird.

There is the Kaibab Lodge for visitors to stay while exploring the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The bison herd now resides in the Kaibab National Forest.

The "Road Less Traveled", or "other side" of Grand Canyon is visited by only 10% of all Grand Canyon visitors.

Entrance to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The Visitor's Center is covid-closed. 

Grand Canyon National Park North Rim   Hiking across the Grand Canyon from North Rim to South Rim is a total of 21 miles.  

Driving from North Rim to South Rim requires a 4.5-hour drive of 220 miles.  We are happy to have approached the North Rim from Glen Canyon/Lake Powell area, so access to the North Rim makes sense to our plan for our Travel Tour 2020.

There is one lodge and one campground at the North Rim.  Each is covid-closed.  We tour the Rim on our own with only a few others obvious by nearly an empty parking lot.

The Grand Canyon Lidge built from 1928-1932.

Stephen Mather, first director of the National Park Service, and assistance Horace Albright worked daily with the Union Pacific Railroad and tour companies to provide the development of these facilities

With the completion of the Lodges at Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the North Rim in the 1920s, the Grand Circle tour was formed.  

The Lodge was built under the supervision of architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood.  Built with locally quarried Kaibab Limestone.

Benefits: few visitors during this covid-avoidance Travel Tour 2020.  

The Lodge in the wilderness seems to have sprung full-grown out of the canyon wall itself!

Wylie Family initiated the first of tourist camps located near Bright Angel Point.  National Park staff removed the last of these platforms in 1946.

Normally sites can be reserved online but in 2020 the campground and motel room are being used by park employees who can no longer live in the staff dormitory because of social distancing needs.  These cabins are ordinarily available for your stay within the North Rim Grand Canyon.

The Lodge and Cabins are covid-closed; however, the Park does have the Roughrider Salon open for whisky and coffee.

We set out on foot along a personal tour guided nature trail a short walk from Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim.

Not at all hectic and very relaxed.  The experience is almost intimate as we have the trail to just us.

We look back to view the Lodge on the wall of the North Rim Canyon.

You can see and hear the Roaring Springs more than 3,000 feet below the Rim.

We found further peace and quiet at Point Imperial overlook.

  The South Rim of the Grand Canyon in the background.  Greatest chasm on earth this Grand Canyon!  Theodore Rosevelt came in 1903 and said: "Every American should see this"!

This visit is an unforgettable experience and a magnificent canyon.

Off to the circular tour to see Zion National Park!!!