A few days before our trip, I heard from a few hikers “Did you check the weather forecast? Did you know the Kaibab forest is closed, is it SR67 open…?” It was a very stressful week before we left on June 26. At one point, the weather forecast for North Rim had the high temperature at 93°F. Chuck sent emails to us: I just hope this won’t be a repeat of one of our North Rim trips a few years ago when we were in the upper 80s to lower 90s every day.

On June 26, after picking up Bernard at his AirBnB in downtown Phoenix and Karen at her house, we met a few others at Bell Road & I-17, our usual meet-up location. Altogether, there was Allen, Betty, Terry, Cheryl, Sonny, Mimi, Bernard, Karen, and Lin. After a quick greeting, we got into five vehicles and left at 7:45 AM, starting our five nights, six days car camping trip.

Traffic was pretty good. We stopped at McDonald at SR87 at Flagstaff for a quick restroom break and snack stop before continuing to our next stop Navajo Bridge, then Jacob Lake. Jacob Lake is one of our favorite stops when we go to the North Rim or to Utah, it is famous for their yummy & fresh cookies and thick milkshakes. After we stretched our legs, filled up gas, and had a few yummy cookies, we continued our last 45 miles of driving to our North Rim Campground.

The North Rim Campground is located on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona. The canyon’s rustic and less populated North Rim is home to abundant wildlife, hiking trails, and unparalleled views of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. The facility is at an elevation of 8,200 ft., with pleasant summer temperatures and frequent afternoon thunderstorms.

We reserved seven campsites - #3, #4, #6, #9, #29, #33 and #52 - with 20 of us staying here for five nights and six days. By 7 PM the last vehicle had arrived, and our car camping trip had officially started.

The morning temperature was cool and very comfortable, we met at site #4 (our group campfire & Potluck site) at 7 AM. After a quick carpool arrangement, we got into five vehicles and drove to the Widforss trailhead to do our first hike.

Widforss Trail - Tranquil route along the rim of a side canyon (the Transept) then through thick forest to a remote viewpoint of the main canyon. Length: 5 miles (one way); Elevation change: 400 feet; Difficulty: Easy. Here is a link to read more about the Widfross trail.

There were two group of hikers today. Lin led the longer distance hike, doing 10 miles in and out; Mimi led the short distance hike, in for two hours and back.

The five-mile trail runs across the plateau, passing close to the side of a red-walled ravine, through the forest before emerging into the open near Widforss Point. At one section, we went through many young Aspen trees and many colorful wildflowers, very scenic and enjoyable. The trail is shaded and mostly level. It was a very pleasant hike. At the end of Widforss Point, we had our snack time. Some of us hiked closer to the cliff to take close-up pictures of the canyon; some of us just found a shaded spot to enjoy this quiet and beautiful moment.

After our break, we returned to the trailhead. On our way back to the trailhead, we met Karen and Chuck. They had separated from Mimi’s group because they decided they wanted hike one more mile when Mimi’s group returned to trailhead.

We back to the trailhead at 1 PM. Potluck is 5 PM. That gave us plenty of time to relax, cook, and enjoy our yummy dinner.

The potluck is always the highlight of our car camping trip. Everyone brings their favorite dishes to share. There were salads, sides dishes, main courses, dessert, wine, beer, and lemonade. It was good, I think we all ate too much at the end.

North Rim is under stage 2 fire restrictions: no Wood/Charcoal fires, no outdoor smoking, so Ralph brought his Fire bowl to the group site. What a lifesaver! Music was playing, songs were sung, Rudy and Jade played the music long into the night. A great first day at the Rim.

On our first hike at the North Rim Grand Canyon camping trip, 20 Trailblazers drove in a few cars to the Widforss Trailhead. The trail is about 10 miles round trip, in and out. After introduction and a group picture, five people: Bettye, Carl, Cheryl, Karen, and Mimi, chose to do a shorter version hike of about 5 miles.

The cool morning weather is pleasant. The trail has good shade and a nice breeze is blowing. After some distance Chuck somehow joined the “short” hikers. We hiked and chatted our way. Carl radioed in that he is waiting for us at the 1.9 mile mark. We all caught up with Carl and are ready to move on to the 2.5 mile mark for a gorgeous viewpoint.

Karen has been nibbling on some sort of bar and the lack of sleep from the night before no longer seems to bother her. She feels better. She and Chuck decided to hike past the 2.5 miles mark. At the end they did 7-7½ miles. The rest of the group turned around. Carl with his long legs sprints his way ahead. Bettye and Cheryl chatted all the way. Now it gets warmer and the going gets slower.

Is it the altitude headache? Mimi sees a family of dalmatians among the rocks. Do you see them?

We all arrived at the trailhead parking lot where Carl has been waiting for 20 minutes. He drove everyone back to the campground in the Jeep. It was a beautiful and enjoyable. day.

The next day started off with a quick breakfast before everyone bundled into their respective cars for a drive to none other than Cape Royal and Point Imperial. These two viewpoints are some of the best views that the North Rim has to offer, and most every website and guidebook you go to will encourage you to do the drive to check out the sights.

The road to Cape Royal is 19.7 miles one way, with the detour to Point Imperial adding another 2.7 miles. Wanting to get the most out of our non-hiking day, we did our best to stop at every turn off and lookout that could fit all of our cars and even some that didn’t. Overall, it was a relaxing and scenic day!

Some highlights:

The fork in the road leading to Point Imperial occurred around 5 miles after we got onto the Cape Royal Road. The point itself was extremely scenic and, at 8,803 feet, is the highest viewpoint on the North Rim.

The lake had dried up for the summer, leaving us a view of a lush green meadow. Walking around the lake led us to a small, refurbished salt cabin, a remnant of the ranching that was done in the area.

Named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, the point had a great overlook, as well as a book left there by park rangers that asked visitors to write to Roosevelt about things, they would say to him if he were to read it.

Across the road was a short trailhead that headed down into the forest before ending at a seep embedded in a cliff wall. The trail itself is shaded for most of the day and provides great views of the South Rim.

At long last, the end of the drive is in sight. A short, paved trail leads to Cape Royal itself, as well as a wonderful view of Angel’s Window. From these points, you can see the Colorado River below and the Desert View tower on the South Rim.

That evening, we made a reservation at the Lodge for dinner, two long tables with sixteen and half people. 16½? Quick story – Lin miscounted the heads, we only made reservations for sixteen people, but we had seventeen people who wanted to eat at the lodge. So, Diva ordered the dishes and delivered the food to the patio, where Ralph enjoyed the view and the food.

The food was very good, fresh and yummy, and the dessert was delicious too. Watching a sunset at the North Rim patio is a must when you are at the North Rim. So, after dinner, we all sat at the patio to enjoy the cool, beautiful sunset.

North Rim Lodge has very rich history, it built in 1928 by… The beautiful Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim was built by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood and was finished in 1928. Native stone and timber were used to make the lodge with much of the main lodge featuring Kaibab limestone that makes up the cliff at Bright Angel Point. Underwood built 120 cabins surrounding the main lodge then later added 20 more in 1928. The lodge was initially run by the Utah Parks Company, who was also a National Park Concessioner in Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. History.

Today we had three groups:

Four of our hikers were hiking to Redwall Bridge, they were Ann, Rich, Chris, and Terry.
Eight of our hikes were hiking from the campground to Supai Tunnel, they were Michael, Carol, Mimi, Sonny, Bernard, Rudy and Lin.
Eight of our hikers were hiking the Uncle Jim trail, they were Chuck, Carl, Allen, Betty, Cheryl, Karen, Ralph and Diva.

Team Redwall Bridge left the campground at 6 AM.; Team Supai Tunnel left the campground at 7 AM; Team Uncle Jim left 7:15 AM.

Hiking from the campground was a great idea, we did not need to carpool, did not need to drive, and did not have to worry about the parking spaces. The trail from campground to North Kaibab was very pleasant. Tall pine trees, wildflowers, and not much elevation change.

After a mile, we arrived the North Kaibab Trailhead. The North Kaibab Trailhead is located about two miles north of the Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge, just off AZ-67. A small parking area is located next to the trailhead.

The North Kaibab Trail is the only maintained trail on the North Rim that goes to the Colorado River. The present trail was built in the 1920s to replace an older route that crossed Bright Angel Creek 94 times. Besides blasting the Supai Tunnel, trail builders also used dynamite to create “half tunnels” in the face of the Redwall Limestone just above Roaring Springs.

In 0.25 mile you reach the first of many switchbacks. After a short traverse and a couple of switchbacks, you arrive at the Coconino Overlook and get a great view down Roaring Springs Canyon. Deposited as windblown sand dunes when this area was a Sahara-like desert 270 million years ago, the cream-colored Coconino Sandstone is a readily visible layer throughout the Grand Canyon.

The trail drops down several more switchbacks, breaks out of the trees into chaparral, and soon arrives at Supai Tunnel, 1.7 miles and 1,600 feet below the trailhead. Just before the tunnel there is a water fountain and pit toilet. Water is usually available between mid-May and mid-October, but do not rely on it; the pipe may be broken or the water may have been turned off if temperatures go to low. This is a good place to stop and relax before tackling the next section of the trail, which drops precipitously to the bottom of Roaring Springs Canyon. If you choose, this is also a good turnaround place to skip the lower, hotter part of the trail. North Kaibab Trail.

Today, with hot temperatures in our forecast, our plan was to hike to Supai Tunnel. Hiking down to Supai Tunnel was easy and dusty, we shared the dry dust from a mules’ guided tour right ahead of us. We stopped a few times to let the mules pass first, but quickly found out that the mules took many bathroom breaks. The dust from mules was unbearable, finally at one point, when the mule stopped to take their bathroom break again, we asked the tour guide if we could pass them first.

“Yes, but make sure you let the mules know that you are behind them.” For the next few minutes, each of us politely talked to each mule we pass “hello mule, you look good, excuse me mule, hi mule.”

We stopped at Coconino Overlook for a look at the canyon, we took a group picture there and hurried up to continue hiking down before the mules passed us again. Finally, we arrived at Supai Tunnel where there was a water fountain and a bathroom.

When we took a break to enjoy our view at Supai Tunnel, we heard a helicopter over our heads, with a red and rescue basket on the side. Is someone injured? Are our team members OK? Just at that point, John spotted Ann and Rich on the Redwall Bridge with his binoculars.

“Hi Ann, Rich, we see you.”

“Yeah,” Ann answered.

“Are you guys, OK?”, we radioed Ann.

“We are fine, we are almost at Roaring Springs.” Chris answered.

That is good, our Four-person team was doing OK. Then we heard Chuck, our Uncle Jim Trail hiking leader, radio us.

“This is Chuck. Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, can you hear us?”

“Yes, we can hear you,” Lin answered.

“Are your guys, OK?”

“Yes, we are fine, and we are at Supai Tunnel resting.”

Good, all of our hikers are doing fine. What a relief! Prior to this trip, there were two fatalities within a week in the Grand Canyon, extreme heat at canyon is very dangerous, not to mention the danger of the cliff and loose rocks on the trail. Enjoying the beauty of Grand Canyon scenery is good, but safety is also very important.

Hiking up from Supai tunnel was killer, we were huffing and puffing. Carol and Bernard were the strongest in this group, they disappeared in the distance. Sonny, Rudy, John, and Lin were together. By then, the temperature was a bit warmer than morning, we all tried to find shade every few minutes at every turn. Sonny was very good at finding shade, we just followed him for every rest point for entire trail.

“Are we there yet?”, Lin asked; “Almost there” Sonny answered. I think we did this Q&A many times before we both said “it is a lot longer than we hiked down earlier this morning”.

Clouds slowly moved in. The casual breeze felt good when we need it the most. Finally, we saw Carol and Bernard sitting at a big rock at the trailhead. Yeah, WE MADE IT. After a few minutes break, Rudy and John hiked up, before we were ready to leave, we saw Diva, Carl, and the rest of the Uncle Jims Trail people. Wow, we finished both hikes almost at the same time. Perfect.

While Chuck’s group jumped into the vehicles to drive back to the campground, Carol, Sonny, Rudy, John, and Lin hiked the last mile back to the campsite. It was a great day, great hike.

It’s 8:30 AM on a clear and cool Tuesday morning, as eight Arizona Trailblazers gather at the Ken Patrick Trailhead to hike the Uncle Jim Trail.

The North Kaibab Trailhead and the Ken Patrick Trailhead both share a common parking area. Today we’ll hike the Ken Patrick Trail for almost a mile before linking up with the Uncle Jim Loop Trail for a total of 5 miles RT.

The Ken Patrick Trail continues for another 9 miles all the way out to Point Imperial, but we’ll have to consider that hike for another day and another trip. The Uncle Jim Trail was named in honor of James T. “Uncle Jim” Owens, who served from 1906 to 1918 as the head game warden on the Kaibab Plateau’s Grand Canyon Game Reserve.

During that period game management practices, highly questionable and controversial by today’s standards, called for the complete elimination of predatory species such as wolves and mountain lions, primarily to increase the herd sizes of both deer and elk for hunters. That program ultimately backfired with the total collapse of the Kaibab Plateau’s predator/prey ecosystem that took many decades to recover.

The Ken Patrick Trail winds its way up and down through a thick forest of Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, Colorado blue spruce, and aspen for a quarter mile or more before we finally catch our first views of Roaring Springs Canyon, a major tributary canyon of the much larger Bright Angel Canyon that descends all the way to the Colorado River.

After we reach the Uncle Jim Loop junction and begin heading south, the views of both canyons become ever more expansive and spectacular. From the head of Roaring Springs Canyon we can clearly see the steeply descending multiple switchbacks of the North Kaibab Trail, which drops almost 6,000 vertical feet in 14.2 miles from the trailhead to Phantom Ranch and the Colorado River, firmly establishing its reputation as one of the premier hiking trails in all of Arizona, in addition to being a world-class trail.

The Uncle Jim Trail skirts the rim of the canyon over much of its course all the way out to its apex at the southernmost point, with Roaring Springs Canyon to the west and Bright Angel Canyon to the east. The views are even more spectacular as we continue making our way south, eventually culminating at Uncle Jim Point.

From our 8,300-foot vantage point on the edge of the North Rim we’re treated to unparalleled views of the confluence of Roaring Springs Canyon and Bright Angel Canyon, Brahma and Zoroaster temples, the South Rim, and even beyond to the often-snowcapped San Francisco Peaks, Kendrick Peak, and Bill Williams Mountain, just visible on the far horizon.

Since Uncle Jim Point marks the half-way point on this trail, we park ourselves on large boulders at the edge of the canyon and break for lunch, with a view that few places in Arizona can match. I pull out my radio and soon make contact with some of our hikers, descending the North Kaibab Trail, far below our location. Several hikers, who started from the campground at 6:00 AM, are still on their way to Roaring Springs, 5 miles down the trail and 3,000+ feet below the North Rim, while others who started later are already on their way back from the closer destinations of Supai Tunnel and Redwall Bridge.

During lunch we hear a strange buzzing noise and soon realize that it’s a helicopter slowly coming up from the depths of the canyon. A small red chopper eventually comes into view and slowly ascends to just above the treetops on the Rim. Then it gradually turns and comes back around and begins descending right back down into the canyon along the same flight path. We conclude that the pilot is either searching for lost hikers (none of ours, thankfully) or just doing practice maneuvers in the canyon.

Anyone even somewhat knowledgeable about helicopters must know that flying a helicopter thousands of feet into and out of the depths of a deep canyon, often in very tight quarters with unpredictable cross winds among other challenges, is one of the most dangerous missions of all for helicopter pilots, requiring utmost flying skills, split-second decision making and responses, and precision maneuvering with little to no margin for error. Definitely not a job for the faint of heart.

Lunch and break over, we reluctantly extract ourselves from the grand view of Uncle Jim Point and begin hiking the second half of the Uncle Jim Loop, slowly making our way back out to the Ken Patrick Trail and finally back to the trailhead. We arrive just in time to see Lin and several other hikers returning from their trek on the North Kaibab Trail. The time is almost 11:30 on yet another beautiful day on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, one of the most desirable places to be on a hot summer day in Arizona.

There were four vehicles with 16 people that drove to Point Sublime on what most would consider—now—a four-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicle expedition. It was a partially cloudy day and there had been a little rain earlier in the day. This allowed for a mostly dust-free drive!

The road was very narrow, rough, and rocky. Some folk got a wee bit car sick and we had to make a few stops to provide relief.

But, oh wow, it was worth it! This is like being immersed a 360-degree theater in the round! It is as if you were put in the center of the canyon on some high point with the canyon views surrounding you in an unbelievable, surrealistic way—even the Colorado River was visible far below!

After being at Point Sublime, we drive back to a junction and took a road to a couple of other points; however, we did have to get almost all of us to take and life a tree that was blocking the road . As far as I know, a first for the club! Only one car chose to go all the way to the far points, as it was just too much bouncy-wouncy and jarring for most of the group.

The map below shows the road from the campground to Point Sublime. The pictures, no matter how good, just do not do justice to these majestic views—made more awe-inspiring due to the rough and jarring ride to get there!

Today is our last day of camping, we all agreed last night that we would get up early, pack, and leave at 8:00 AM to have breakfast at Jacob Lake. Must have been the smell of fresh coffee, bacon and sausage and eggs, because by 7:45 AN we were all packed and ready to leave. And Allen and Betty had left even earlier than we did.

Terry, Cheryl, Sonny, Mimi, Bernard, Karen, and Lin caravanned to Jacob Lake. When we walked into the restaurant, Rudy, Chris, Chuck, Carl, Jade, Allen, and Betty were already there, sitting and waiting for us.

“Lin, what do you want for breakfast?” Carl asked.

“Sausage, eggs scrambled, hash browns, English muffin.” Lin did not even look at the menu, and she knew exactly what she wanted for breakfast.

The breakfast was good, very very good, everyone was happy and enjoyed the hot and freshly cooked food. While we were eating, Michael and Carol walked into the store and bought a few cookies before leaving for their long drive.

Bernard, our international guest who joined us for this trip, had never touched the Colorado River, so Lin, Bernard, Terry and Cheryl decided they were going to make a detour to Lee’s Ferry to touch the Colorado water.

After we left Lee’s Ferry, we stopped at Marble Canyon Overview. Then we continued our drive to Flagstaff, had lunch at Salsa Brava restaurant. As usual, the food was very good. We were back in Phoenix around 4 PM.

Thanks to everyone for texting, calling, and emailing me, letting me know that you were safely home. I appreciate it all. What weather we just had! Heat? What heat? Thunderstorm and Rain? What Thunderstorm? OK, we did get some rain. It was cold and wet on our second potluck, but we did pray for rain, didn’t we? We got it.

It was a fun trip. Thanks everyone for participating and helping to make this trip another great one!

Thanks to the hiking co-leaders (Michael, Chuck, Mimi).
Thanks to our potluck helpers and everyone else for helping where help was needed.
Thanks, Rudy and Jade, who entertained us during our one campfire night.
Thanks to everyone who brought yummy food to share at our two potluck parties.
Thanks for the drivers, Carl, Michael, Rudy, Terry, Allen, Mimi, Sonny, John, Rich, who drove us safely from the trailhead to campground and home.
Thanks, Terry, for taking care of the sign-in sheet every morning and keeping our stats updated each day.
Thanks, Bernard, for joining us while he is traveling the world, I hope we did not disappoint him - he found us via our website.
Thanks to our Webmaster Ted for such a great website.
Thanks, Michael, for bringing a tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag, and Karen for bringing a camping chair for Bernard.
Thanks, Ralph and Diva, for joining us to hike and at the potluck.
Well, what an awesome trip! Take it easy for the next few weeks. I am looking forward to seeing you on our next adventure.