Words can hardly describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon and pictures barley do it justice. Many visitors to the Grand Canyon National Park never visit the north rim because it is remote and although it is just 10 miles by air from the south rim, it is a 220 mile drive by car. And even when you stay close, as we did in Marble Canyon, it is still some 80 miles away over a road that at times is winding and treacherous with no guard rails.
But, make no mistake, the drive is oh so worth it when you travel the access road in early Fall as it nears the park entrance and the meadows are covered in a blanket of pure white snow. You will be glad you decided to make the journey when you enter the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim, walk into the viewing parlor (I’m not sure what to call it) in amongst the many leather couches, and stare into the vastness that lies beyond the floor to ceiling windows. Your first experience of seeing the canyon on either the north or south side can quite literally take your breath away, but there is something remarkably different about the north rim.
Walk outside the lodge on the right and down the steep stairs to the nearest overlook and you may notice that almost no one is speaking, and if they are, it is only at the level of a whisper. It is as if no one wants to mess up the experience with words. You can understand why the early Puebloan peoples who first settled in the canyon considered this sacred ground.
On our hike out to Bright Angel Point, one of the many trails on the north side, we noticed how quiet the canyon is. It is a silence that can almost be heard. You hear it, or rather notice it, because the quiet is so unlike the busy world we live in today. It makes you ask yourself, ‘What is that sound I’m not hearing?’
Make the drive to the north rim of the Grand Canyon and gaze upon what 90% of those who visit this natural wonder never get to experience.
Tags: National Parks
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