This solo camping trip to the Grand Canyon North Rim was a follow up our trip to the South Rim in April.  While the two locations are only twelve miles apart as the crow flies, they are quite different experiences.  The South Rim has larger crowds, warmer temperatures, more visitor facilities, and less forest cover.

This trip also included several other iconic locations in Northern Arizona: Horseshoe Bend, Monument Valley, and Canyon de Chelly.  Each of these locations offered views of the dramatic canyons and bluffs of the American Southwest.

To see more photos from this trip, please visit the Grand Canyon North Rim 2015-08 location gallery here.  Click on any image below to see a larger version.

The North Rim offers several viewpoints of the canyon, including Cape Royal, Point Imperial, and Bright Angel Point.  These overlooks are especially dramatic at sunrise and sunset, when the low-angled light brings out the texture and color of the canyon walls

Bright Angel Point	Point Imperial
Cape Royal

Horseshoe Bend just outside of Page, AZ, is a stunning bend in the Colorado River, with sheer canyon walls of over 1000 feet.

My attempt to visit the Lower Antelope Canyon was thwarted by Mother Nature when she decided to put on a thunderstorm nearby.  The Navajo guides wisely decided that the possibility of a flash flood in the narrow slot canyon outweighed the need for photos.  That location will have to wait for another visit.  But the rainstorm yielded a different kind of photo opportunity.

My next destination was Monument Valley, a Navajo Tribal Park that has been the setting of numerous Western movies.

The Mittens	North Window
Sunset Beams Above Merrick Butte

My final destination on this trip was Canyon de Chelly, which has overlooks on both the north and south rims. Like Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado, this canyon was the long-time home of ancestral tribes, who left behind several well-preserved ruins.  The Navajo continue to occupy this canyon.

One of the more spectacular sights in the canyon is Spider Rock, which according to Navajo legend is the home of Spider Woman.

To see more photos from this trip, please visit the Grand Canyon North Rim 2015-08 gallery here.   

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