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| Crazy Jug Sunset |
I loved the
opportunity to do a family camping trip to the Grand Canyon’s North Rim last
week, though they’re a little different than the solo jaunts.
The National
Park itself is rather restrictive about dogs, so we’ll have to delay some of
those in-park things until we’re on a trip without Luna. She’s 12 years old now, so we’ll treasure the
time we’ve got. There are plenty of fabulous things on my running list in the
Kaibab National Forest, and plenty of dispersed camping.
In fact, we
made three trips into the Park, but two were just for potty breaks and to
jettison trash. The “Find Your Park”
campaign has been quite successful.
Marco suggested that the next big advertising push be something like “Find
Your Major Metropolitan Area.”
I strive to
find camping spots near great places to shoot at sunrise. That way we can all sleep later, but
especially so that Marco and Luna don’t have to roll out in the dark. We call these “bumper belays,” after a rock
climbing expression which means there’s no hike from the car to the climb.
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| Rain makes for great macro shots; North Canyon Trail |
Luna (and
Marco, if I’m honest) have a tendency toward boredom, so I do need to tailor
the rhythm of the trip to them a bit, especially curbing my desire to crawl on
the ground doing macro work when they’re standing around waiting. There’s a bit of a challenge, too, the three
of us living in a small space. I couldn’t
do this with any human other than my husband, and the dog, well the older she
gets the more flatulent she is. I’m sure
it’s only the dog.
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| Aspens, Sky, Reflections. The Kaibab Forest Experience. |
Despite all
of this, we had a great time. These
trips encourage us to be spontaneous; after all we can camp wherever we like.
We hit old favorites and found a new one we liked so much that we returned for
a second night later in the week.
When I was
last up, in June, high temperatures were an unprecedented 95. We had enough monsoon storms to keep the ceiling
at about 75 this time. Things were green,
wet, and blooming and there were mushrooms roadside.
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| Four Wheel Camper Rally |
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| Marble View Sunrise |
Rather by
chance, we ran into Paul Gill
and Gary Smith, both Four Wheel Camper
on-a-Toyota truck people. We had a sort
of impromptu convention at Marble View complete with fresh-baked chocolate chip
cookies and good red wine. This is a
lovely spot which is famous for its wind.
I don’t love fighting the gusts, but there are lovely wind-blown trees
there and low-growing plants which make the area look something like
tundra. Mercifully, there are places to
camp among the trees and out of the wind.
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| Crazy Jug bounced backlight on hoodoos |
Our fifth
and final night was at an old favorite, Crazy Jug Point. I’d been a little disappointed that the light
was mostly uninspiring in the early part of the trip, but we had a spectacular
sunset, full moon set at sunrise, and the lovely morning backlight that keeps
me coming back to this spot. We met our
friend Gaelyn Olmstead there and enjoyed
catching up almost as much as sharing her brownies, strawberries, and ice
cream. Gaelyn is a Ranger at the North
Rim and a prolific blogger. She often
says that Rangers get paid in sunsets.
That last night I felt as if I were garnishing her wages.
Mostly I
travel alone. Marco had such a good
time, though, that he might like to come back when the aspens turn. Luna says she’d like that and I would too. We’d better get to it while the dog still has
the energy to gallop down the trail with her ears pressed back.
Happy trails!
More from this trip are in the Grand Canyon Gallery on the website.
