Day Twenty Two
Grand Canyon
We leave Monument Valley and continue towards Kaibab National Forest and the North Rim of Grand Canyon. It’s hard to leave Monument Valley behind. The huge pillars and mesas are incredible. The weather has been in our favor as well. We must go on, though.
Oliver’s route planning has us doing an easy day into the Canyon. However, Kevin has some suggestions for a little curvy looking detour through Navajo lands. We all decide to try out Kevin’s road. Oops.
Once again, five miles into the fifteen mile route and we hit dirt. Dirt would actually be much better. The correct description would be ten inch deep red silt. For some reason we all commit to powering through the ten to five mile long trail. After a baker’s dozen worth of bikes wiping out in the sand we make it make to pavement. Kevin lays his lips to the warm asphalt. We shake off the sand and bend back the crash bars to something resembling original shape and continue on.
The scenic highways heading towards the North Rim are really sweet. We seem to keep bouncing in and out of Utah and Arizona mire times than we can remember. As we begin to climb 1000 feet every 10 miles we begin to understand the depth of the canyon. The route into North Rim is surprisingly wooded with lush green pastures in between. The pavement is top quality with big fast sweepers running all the way to the top.
As we approach the lodge perched on top of the North Rim you really only get glimpses of the massive valley below. Make your way on the foot trails past the lodge and the whole thing opens up. No photos seem to do it justice. It’s a clear day and we can see 30+ miles in the distance. The canyon viewpoints have narrow WPA-esque paths linking small pieces of canyon out croppings together. Guardrails are non-existent. The view from the natural rock perch we climbed fifteen feet up to is mouth dropping. We all sit on the rocks, feet hanging down, and candidly chat with most amazing backdrop ever. A quick giftshop visit and postcard mailing from US Post Office North Rim and we’re gone.
We make it thirty miles down to De Monte campground. Our deer hide wearing, revolver toting camp host enjoys our stories from the road as he gets us set up for the night. Oliver makes the best spaghetti and Italian sausage dinner any campers ever had and we hit the hay.
Next up on our list of incredible parks, Bryce Canyon, Utah.
