Category: Grand Canyon National Park North Rim

That’s right, the long awaited opening of the North Rim at Grand Canyon National Park happens May 15th when the entrance station gate is swung back at 8am to welcome all.  And that newspaper called ‘The Guide’ given to you by a friendly Park Ranger will give you a map of the park plus a whole lot of information about what to do.  Please take a moment to leaf through it and even if you don’t read cover to cover be sure to keep it with while you visit for reference.  If you have questions stop at the Visitor Center and we will try to help you have the best time while visiting the North Rim.

Whether you want to hike, ride a mule, attend a Ranger program or just sit quietly and absorb the wonder, you can find it all at the North Rim.

The North Rim offers a campground and cabin accommodations that typically require a reservation.  Dining and a deli can be found at the Grand Lodge.  Trails and a scenic drive provide many views of the canyon.  Special events occur over the summer like Western Arts Day, Native American Heritage Days, a week long Star Party and the Kanab Symphony.  I could go on and on but just check the Grand Canyon National Park website for all the details.  (Here’s the link  http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm)

Please remember that we are in a dry environment at high elevation, 8200 feet, so drink plenty of water.  And if you find breathing a little difficult, slow down, there’s less oxygen up here.

Important new information

The entrance station and camp ground only accept credit cards, NO CASH, for fees.

Why close the North Rim

The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park closes for the winter.  This is partly due to past snowy conditions but mostly because the infrastructure wasn’t built to sustain the cold temperatures seen at this 8200 foot site on the edge of the big ditch.  The water source that supplies both sides of the canyon’s development comes from 3000 feet down in the side canyon of Roaring Springs on the north side of the Colorado River.  This water could be considered ancient as it originates as precipitation that percolates through rock over time and emerges from the canyon walls as a waterfall.  It is then pumped either up to the North Rim or across canyon and up to the South Rim.  Due to typical freeze patterns the system is shut down on the North Rim for winter and the few who remain for maintenance and security rely on water stored in tanks.

Unfortunately, this past winter didn’t provide much snow pack on the Kaibab Plateau and the forest around the North Rim is dry.  Oh you may see a few minor patches of snow buried under the trees facing north but don’t be fooled.  The forest floor is parched.  And although there is not a current fire restriction on the North Kaibab National Forest please be reminded that campfires should not be unattended or large and put out completely cold to the touch when finished enjoying it.  Tiny sparks have been known to produce much devastation in large forest fires.  Human cause is not a natural wildfire.

So what am I doing the day before we open?  Enjoying the day off and going out on the scenic drive to Cape Royal for sunset in the quiet of we’re not open yet.  Hope you’ll come visit this summer.

This greeting from the North Rim comes to you before it is open to the public.  The National Park Service and Forever Resort employees are getting ready for your arrival.

The North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park opens May 15, 2014.  Unless a lot more snow falls.

Spring arrived in southern and central Arizona very early this year but winter lingers in the northern part of the state and although I drove through warm desert to get here, the North Rim greets me with snow my first night back.

I’ve driven, and posted about, the spring drive through diverse landscapes before: Painted Desert, Navajo Bridge, Vermilion Cliffs, Jacob Lake, and the Kaibab National Forest.

As I left Jacob Lake heading south through the Kaibab I hoped to see snow along the way.  The patches hidden under the edge of the forest almost nonexistent.  The meadows look brown.

Note the dates on these photos

Over the last seven years I’ve made this drive the amount of spring snow continues to diminish.  On cleared roads with 2-5 foot snow banks I’ve driven past white meadows.  Sometimes large patches of snow on northern exposures frame well watered green meadows running with small flows of water between flooded dips we call lakes.  This year, barely any standing water except for small year-round lakes.

Seeing the forest and meadows dry emphasizes the lack of snowpack for yet another year in the Southwest’s at least 17 year drought. Campfire and smoking restrictions are now in place on the  Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott and Tonto National Forests in Arizona, but not the North Kaibab district adjacent to the North Rim of the park.  Couldn’t even have a BBQ at the Flagstaff KOA.  Will spend a lot of time this spring talking to visitors about fire safety.

2006 Warm Fire

Due to human intervention and the “put it out” suppression policy of fire on public land for over 100 years fuel accumulation can ramp up catastrophic fires whether human caused or natural.

Climate change can not be denied.  Humans are only part to blame.  Earth is a cyclic planet in motion and changing all the time.  In fact those colorful rock layers in the canyon were deposited in much different environments than we know today.  The Grand Canyon is a 1.8 billion year old record of climate change.

Having just come from summer in South Africa followed by spring in Yarnell and not being a big fan of cold and snow, I pretty much stayed inside and unpacked the RV.  But when the sun came out so did I.

So even though I returned to snow fall for a day and half it’s mostly melted already and the ground is barely moist.  We could get more as sometimes it snows into June.  And hopefully there will be a very wet monsoon season this summer.

Hope you’ll come for a visit and find out.  But please be careful with fire.