Western Parks Trip--Day 10, Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Here I am, Friday evening trying to recount what happened on Tuesday.  We decided we didn't "need" to get up at 6 AM to be on the road by 8, as we were heading to the North Rim of Grand Canyon which is in Arizona which is on Mountain Daylight Time (it doesn't use Daylight Savings Time), so we would operate an hour earlier.  We had reservations for dinner at the Lodge at Grand Canyon's North Rim at 4:45 PM, so we wanted to arrive there at about 11-12 to do the North Rim's adventures.

It is a good US road most of the way to the North Rim and we met our desired arrival time of 11:30.  Once we confirmed that we had our time correct, we paused for lunch at the Deli in the Pines.  We really wanted to eat at the Rough Rider Saloon, but they only serve snacky type foods, but lots of different beverages! and they wouldn't be open until 11:30 (12:30 body time).  From there we took a short "easy" walk to Bright Angel Point.  Even an easy walk at 8000+ feet is hard especially when it rises and falls several hundred feet.  We went about 1/2 way to the point and paused, fascinated by a black-chinned hummingbird feeding on wildflowers.

The trail was steeper than we would call easy in TN.  David elected to wait at the beginning while Kathie and Ann braved the path until we could see how far and how "up and down" it was to the actual view point.  We took pix from about 1/2 way there on the 1/2 mile route. 

Find the hummie feeding on these pink flowers!

The North Rim offers two auto routes which we traversed before dinner.  We drove the westerly 11 mile route first heading to Cape Royal.  To the south of Cape Royal is the Walhalla Plateau.

As we reversed direction back north we stopped at Roosevelt Point, named for Teddy Roosevelt who had the vision to preserve so much of our national heritage in National Parks.  I noted a Park Ranger carrying a tote of supplies, indicative of a preparation for a talk.  Sure enough he presented a talk about the Puebloan Culture which was most informative.  The Puebloans, as they are now called instead of Anazazi which has a hostile meaning in the Navaho language and is offensive to the Hopi descendants of the Puebloans, had traversed throughout this area from about 600-1200 AD and would move from the plateau to the valley with the seasons.  There are many artifacts uncovered including an almost  complete pueblo not far from Roosevelt Point. We heard the 1200s reference frequently as a climactic change time often believed related to a drought which caused whole tribes to move elsewhere.  Climate change!!!!

The pueblo is depicted from diggings.

We visited Point Imperial, the highest point on the North or South Rim. It overlooks the Kaibab
 Plateau.

The mule used to be the primary mode of transportation in the early days of the park, but they became too difficult to maintain.  So they were farmed out to zoos and other reserves.  This mule is in the lounge at the Lodge and his shiny nose results from people rubbing it to bring good luck. 

The lighting was rustic, too. 

 We got back to the Lodge in time for dinner in a wonderful rustic atmosphere with excellent service and food.  It was 9:30 MDT by the time we got back to camp, tired but in awe of the wondrous sights.