When Theodore Roosevelt saw the Grand Canyon, he said “Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.”  The Grand Canyon gets as much global attention as any National Park and justifiably so.  We had visited the South Rim before and it can get very crowded, so we chose to visit the North Rim this time.  One of the things we really liked about the North Rim was the ability to find solitude.  Taking it all in with peace and quiet makes you appreciate what Teddy had to say.

We visited the Grand Canyon in September 2019

Getting

There

Driving to the North Rim is a long journey, hundreds of miles off the interstate highways.  But our story visiting the North Rim goes back 30+ years.  Before we were married (and before the internet), we left San Diego after Thanksgiving to visit Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was COLD.  After visiting the Utah parks, we headed east and then south, eager to brave the elements and experience the eighth wonder of the world.  But, as we approached the park boundaries, we came across a sign strung across the road saying that the park was closed.  How on earth do you close the Grand Canyon?  Well, they close the North Rim every year by the end of October since so few people visit this side of the park.  This time around, we got it right.  It would be the first stop on our first big RV trip, an 8 week cross country retirement test drive.  Spoiler alert – the trip was amazing and sealed the deal that we could do longer trips and possibly full timing someday.  One of our friends noted our successful trip saying “wow, you guys must really like each other.”  Yeah, we do.

Road to

Cape Royal 

 Many RVers tow a car.  For us, this defeated the purpose of an easy to drive, easy to park rig.  Lots of other people carry e-bikes which was an option we considered until we understood the limited range before the bikes needed to be recharged (and when dry camping, we wouldn’t have adequate electricity for days).  Enter Ruby Sue, our 150cc scooter and ticket to fun and freedom.  At the Grand Canyon, we put Ruby to the test, driving on the road to Cape Royal.   This 20 mile winding road has several stops/hikes along the way to its majestic end point.  On our second day, we got up before the sun and headed for Point Imperial along the road to Cape Royal.  I wasn’t quite prepared for the cold.  Yes, the gloves, sweatshirt, and jacket were fine against the upper 30 degree temps.  Doing that at 35mph for half an hour froze my hands and torso to the bone.  But getting to Point Imperial, the highest point on the north rim, as the sun was making its entrance to the day, made it all worth it.  During our trip, we also made it to Vista Encantada, Roosevelt Point, and Point Final where we did a 4 mile hike out to the edge.  Rainy had a stuffy nose, so it wasn’t much fun for her, but she’s a warrior.  At the end of the road is a roughly mile hike out past The Window and on to Cape Royal.  The canyon is so deep that’s it’s difficult to see all the way down to the Colorado River, but you could actually see a ribbon of the river through The Window.  From Cape Royal, you had a front row seat to two of the better known features in the canyon, Wotan’s Throne and Thor’s Temple.  It’s all so stunning, especially at sunset.  Some of the aspens had turned bright yellow, so we got that added beauty.  Seeing all that while cruising on Ruby made us certain that we had made the right call getting the scooter.

We’ll definitely return again someday.  Hopefully, those of you reading this will also go the extra miles to the North Rim, only 10% of visitors to the Grand Canyon make it.  Words and even great photos don’t entirely do justice to this place, you must visit.