I can’t believe we have only been on this trip for 4 days! We have seen and done so much it seems like longer. Today, we woke up naturally around 5:40a.m. The sun was shining so brightly already, I thought it was at least 7. We grabbed a cup of coffee at the inn diner and then headed toward the Grand Canyon National Park, which is about 30 miles from Jacob Lake. The striking thing about the North Rim is that NO ONE goes here. It is so uncrowded compared to the South Rim. I am really happy to not encounter throngs of people everywhere we go.
We decided to go to Cape Royal to see the views and hike the Cape Final Trail. It took forever to get out there because apparently, the Model-T Ford Club was holding its annual convention and we got stuck behind about 50 of them, all being driven by men over the age of 65. Model-T Fords do not seem to have the ability to go faster than 35 mph, and the drivers were quite rude, refusing to pull over at the turn outs to let modern cars pass despite the signs everywhere saying to do so. Completely annoying! It never cases to amaze me what kinds of things people can be in to. Who even knew there were any Model-T Fords left?
The Cape Final Trail was about 4 miles long and hardly anyone was on it. It winds through forest and has 2 lookout points over the Grand Canyon that offer these incredible views. I truly do not know how I can describe what I saw. The GC is vast beyond imagination, and I felt very small sitting on the rock looking out over it. The sound of the wind in the trees was the only thing we could hear. It didn’t even look real! It was like a painting with vivid earthtone reds and greens in the foreground with fading shades of beige and brown in back, like the backdrop on a movie set of an old western. There was this little black bird with yellow on its wings flying around, and I was so jealous that it could fly over the GC anytime it wanted. Maybe in my next life. For now, maybe we should do the helicopter tour. By the time we got to the final lookout point—Cape Royal, no one was there. It was just me, Daniel, the wind, the birds and tiny little sand lizards. If we never got to see any other part of the GC, we will have at least seen this part. I am not sure how any other view can top it.
On our way back we looked for and found the PERFECT campsite to stay at tomorrow night. The thing about the North Rim of the GC is that you can camp anywhere (except near the main road or any water source, even though there aren’t really any) and it’s FREE. So we turned off Hwy 64 onto this small road and took that another 6 miles in until we came to this little site truly in the wilderness. If something happened to us, we’d be eaten by mule deer before anyone found us! I am noticing how often I refer to danger or bad things happening in these remote areas. But hey, I am a city girl and I do watch a lot of crime shows. Camping in the wilderness is so incredibly beautiful and filled with sites and sounds I NEVER get to see and hear, it ends up being more exhilarating than it is scary. I love the adventure. We will return to this place tomorrow night.
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