The drive in is through a forest that was burned in multiple fires. You can tell this by one area does not have any new growth but a second area does have some new growth. You also go through Kaibab National Forest on the way to the park, it is where I am staying. Kaibab has big meadows and then a tree line and plenty of sign saying to watch for buffalo and cows when on the drive towards the park. Upon entering the Park you have a bit to travel to the Visitor Center. You pass most of the hiking trails, and the Campground in the park, but I am staying in a National Forest this park due to being shut out of the campground here. The North Rim just opened on the 15th of May and I arrived not the 16th of May. I was told that the line of cars to get into the park was long yesterday and that there was no parking anyplace within the park. Today, I found a spot but did tomorrow I am going to hike the North Rim part of the Kaibab Trail as I did the South Rim portion when I was over there. Issue is there are a bunch of miles between the two turn off points that I have not covered as this trail will allow you to go Rim to Rim some 25 miles. I did some hiking today in the park after getting my passport stamped. I spoke to a friend, Kevin, today and he told me that nothing has been updated in a long time so I tried to do some updates but bad cell service hit again. When I was looking for some service I came across a guy who starting hiking at 0230 in the AM today so he could do the Rim to Rim on the Kaibab trail which he successfully completed in 9.5 hours, not bad for 25 miles and 7,000 feet down and 8,000 feet up. The North Rim is 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim. It is cold here today and I am hoping that my heater works well as I am going to need to stay warm tonight. The camp host mentioned it was 21 this AM so layers for the start of the North Kaibab hike tomorrow. The night was very cold and I was very happy for the heater in the van as it was 55 degrees in the van. The drive from the campground to the park I was not able to get a spot at the trail head but I did enjoy the drive into the park. The area is so nice and so different than the South but we have to keep that a secret or it will become just like the South. I was told to watch out for deer when on the North Rim but have to say that in the 2 days I was in the park and at the campground I saw only 1 dead deer being eaten by a bird on the way in. Well on the way out of the campground this AM at 0548 I proceeded to see 22 deer just on the side of the road eating. Guess these fellas go higher up during the day since all of the cars are driving along the road. Last piece about North Rim and De Motte was it was COLD! The campground had snow come down during the day when I was hiking and it was 34 degrees when I left this AM. BRRRRRRRR.
Bright Angel Point Trail – is a 1/2 mile paved trail that goes from the visitor center/lodge to Bright Angel Point. Today was super windy and the point has some nice views but it was a bit scary to be that close to the edge of the cliff face. The park service put up railings on the point so people don’t go over the edge. Also, the hike is down hill most of the time and in some places it is steep but everyone made it back out that went down.
Transept Trail – I took that after my little journey to Bright Angel Point and decided that the 1.2 miles to the campground would be a nice adventure for today. The trail starts at a “Y” in the Bright Angel Point Trail and it is not really marked. You will have the canyon on your left, if coming from the Point and the lodge on your right. The path at the beginning, by the lodge is paved but quickly becomes a non-paved walking path. The hike to the campground has some nice lookouts to see the canyon but also has a little house’s foundation from over 900 years ago. The house was two rooms and was used by a farmer who farmed this land with corn, beans and squash as their crop of choice. The farmer planted the seeds deep to take advantage of the sow melt and frost free days. The summer house is just after a nice lookout and is after the top of an upward portion of the trail. You continue onward and will go down twice and up twice and then you are at the campground where I chose to turn around. The trail goes all the way to the Administration and Backcountry office but the campground was my destination.
De Monte campground – the first time spending the night in a forest preserve but the campground is nice. It has a couple loops and the sites are big but the campground has less than 40 sites so the overall campground is small. There are two camp hosts working the facility and they also sell firewood for $7.00 which is $3.00 cheaper than the South Rim’s cost. A downfall of this campground is that there are only pit toilets but since it has been opened for 1 day they are not smelly yet. It appears that many of the sites are a one night and done but I have two nights as I got here today, got a lay of the land and tomorrow is the hiking day. Hope that my heater does not make too much noise as quiet time is 10pm to 6am and I want that heater running tonight as it will be down into the low 30’s or high 20’s. Something else that I thought was weird was the camp host last evening needed to get my drivers license number and car tag number, something new for them. I guess knowing my license number is needed more than for the MVA in Texas but I still don’t know the number.
Bridle Path – well as luck would have it parking at the Kaibab Trail head was full and with the limited parking the trail head parking is full by 0800. If you want to park on the road you can do that but you can also park at the visitor center and that is where you pickup the Bridle Path. The path is 1.7 miles to the trail head and is a very easy hike there. The hardest part of this trial is coming back from Kaibab where your first part of the trail is uphill but that is nothing to what you just accomplished on the Kaibab trail. The path goes through some trees and you pass the campground, and fire station on the way to the Kaibab trail head. I recommend this path as it is an easy 1.7 miles each way as it hard packed and you can park. This path took me about 30 minutes each way along the trail
North Kaibab Trial – the trail head has parking but that is limited and there is a water filling station at the trail head. The first stop on the way down is the Coconino Overlook. The overlook is a short 0.7 miles but has 800 feet of elevation loss in this distance and remember what goes down does come up. The overlook took about 30 minutes to arrive. The next highlight along the trail after two mule trains passed at separate times is the Supai Tunnel. The tunnel is about 20 feet long and is ver cool when you are on the trail. Supai is an additional 1.3 miles and another 600 feet of elevation loss. The tunnel from the overlook took an additional 60 minutes. There is a restroom and water station at this area on the trail just before the tunnel. The next section that I was going to go to was the Redwall Bridge that being an additional 0.5 miles and another 800 feet of elevation loss. I have to say that the weather was looking like it was going to turn for the worse so I stopped at Supai and headed back up to the top. The weather did start to rain very little but the temperature dropped so I was thankful for having the long sleeve t-shirt in my pack. By the time I made the top of the trail I had to put my sweater on as the combination of sweat and cold made me have the chills. The hike up is pretty steep but with all my hikes water and rest stops are in order in order to make the hike successful. I did find many people doing the rim to rim running or hiking along the trail as if you recall from the South Rim I hiked South Kiabab Trail and these meet at the bottom of the canyon. The trail is sandy in many places and I think that is due to the mules that go down and up daily. Total time in the canyon today was three hours. It is crazy but I seem to hike uphill better than down as I think it is easier on my knees but the poles do help with the knees if you use them correctly. Note: I can’t seem to find photos of this trail but I will look and update when I find them, sorry.
Showers and laundry facility – the North Rim has a shower and laundry facility and I was looking forward to the first shower in 5 days of hiking. Well I hate to admit that I am still without a shower. The shower and laundry facility in the North Rim is closed for the season, guess nobody told them the season opened on the 15th of May. I did the next best thing in I headed back to the visitor center and shaved in the hot water there and then wet my hair to comb it so it looks reasonable. Guess the baby wipes are going to have to do for a few more days, and I am glad I am by myself as I may start to stink soon.
Meadow in Kaibab National Forest
