Mississippi River Trip: North Rim, Grand Canyon - 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!

 

We headed out from Page, AZ after restocking our food supply – well, Larisa did.  I slept in.  We hit the park in early afternoon and hunted for campsites. Unfortunately, while the park is bordered by the National Forest, all of the dispersed camping is about 40 miles from the park itself.  We wound up taking a site at De Motte Campground in the Kaibab National Recreation Area.  With our National Parks Pass we got a 50% discount which decided us on a two day stay.  We set up the tent and decided to eat early, and that’s where my baby surprised me.

When she restocked the groceries, Larisa planned a Fourth of July Meal for us, that consisted of a variety of fresh veggies, kielbasa for me and tuna for her, all of which we cooked up and ate with gusto.  For dessert she purchased little tiny pecan pies.  It wasn’t a barbecue (no fires, no charcoal in the parks still), but it was the best Fourth of July cookout I’ve ever had.  After we were done chowing down we headed up to the Visitor’s Center.

Until this point Larisa had been very good about closing her eyes on the way to the park, wanting to get a grand view all at once.  She got it at the North Rim Visitor’s Center along Bright Angel Trail.  The Lodge blocks the view until you actually hit the trail, so Larisa’s first shot was looking down from the North Rim across the divide to the far rim 28 miles away.  My favorite part was how she was unable to complete any sentences.  “The colors are just. . .  The colors are. . Wow…. I didn’t expect it to be so. . .”

The Grand Canyon is like that.  When you see it for the first time something reaches out and touches your soul.  As much fun as I poke at Larisa about talking, I found myself unable to hold a coherent conversation of my own for a while.  Something about the vast course of history that has been clawed into the stone made me want to shut up and stare, so that’s what I did.  Larisa and I ambled slowly along the trail, occasionally exchanging words, but mostly just taking in the view of the canyon as the sun dipped lower and lower, painting some sections in fiery reds and yellows, others in dark browns and black shadows;  another day ending.  One more day in a history billions of years old, and we were part of it.  It’s hard to put into words, but it affects you.

When we made it to the end of the trail Larisa finally found the presence of mind to snap some pictures, but neither of us was in a picture taking mood.  We were in a watching mood, and so we watched the canyon grow darker and made our way back to camp.

At camp we had our own fireworks celebration.  Happy 4^th of July!