TR: North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Wow! I had no idea the Rainbow Rim trail had gotten crowded. When we were there in late May of 2008, we didn't see anyone else in three days of riding.

I am not sure I could handle that trail today -- that was 13 years ago, and I was not young at that time!

The portions of the Arizona Trail up on the Kaibab Plateau are fairly easy (although we did have to watch out for roots and rocks). But the parts that drop down off the rim are pretty difficult.

Glad to see someone else has ridden the AZ trail in that area. We rode access roads from camp and did something like 10 miles of singletrack from north of the park boundary. We saw no one else out there all day. But a relatively easy and remote trail. We completed the loop by riding back to AZ 67 and back to DeMotte CG where we were camped.

Not the same kind of views as the Rainbow Rim trail, but definitely less crowded.

profdant139 wrote:
Thanks for the kind words! And Mike, you are exactly right -- there is very little colorful fall foliage in Southern California. So that's why we head out in search of aspen groves during the fall.

Maple would be nice, too, but we are three thousand miles away from Vermont!

If you can get to NE Iowa or Minnesota, you should be able to see some great autumn colors. Here's a map showing where maple syrup is obtained from maple trees:

That should cut about a thousand miles off your trip. ;)

Thanks for the great pictures. N Rim is one of our favorite places.

profdant139 wrote:

Plus there are no aspen trees, so that settles it. ;)

But there is a nice hike down to the river -- if you like steep and treacherous.

North Rim is awesome - we like it better than the South Rim in many ways. Amazing visuals ... and interesting critters.

Your Smokey mascot is great! There is a sticker of Smokey on the Tiger's stove hood. It was given to me by the ranger at a roadblock somewhere in the western Sierra on my first Tiger trip and has remained in position for 15 years so far.

So many aspens.... but a great TR anyway. Thanks for sharing it.

Cal, if I recall correctly, there are road signs out that way saying that trailers are not allowed, which excludes me. I could be wrong about that.

Plus there are no aspen trees, so that settles it. ;)

Great pictures of one of the great places in the world.
As you know, there are many much more remote spots on the north rim, such as -
Whitmore Point Overlook

(TC barely visible)

Thanks for the kind words! And Mike, you are exactly right -- there is very little colorful fall foliage in Southern California. So that's why we head out in search of aspen groves during the fall.

Maple would be nice, too, but we are three thousand miles away from Vermont!