North Rim

Since we had never been to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Rod and I decided to take off Wednesday afternoon and have an adventure. We stayed at a cheap motel in Page that night, and left for our final destination early Thursday morning. We drove through miles and miles of beautiful red rock country and then hit the high desert region as we climbed. The red rock gave way to sage brush, then to cedar trees, and then to magnificent pines with quakies and vast meadows of lush green grass. We arrived at the parking lot of the visitors center and the North Rim Lodge. We meandered over to a little stone wall lookout and this is what we saw. It totally took my breath away, my hand went up to my chest, and the tears flowed down my cheeks. The brilliant colors of the rock, the vastness of the gorge, the green of the foliage, and the breeze whispering through the pines let me know that I was special enough to God that He made this view just for me - because He knew I would love it so much. We found a little trail that lead out to a "scenic view point" and followed it to its half mile end. We did go off the trail a couple of times to climb out on some jutting rocks. It took great bravery for me to do this, as I am somewhat afraid of heights. But it was soooooo worth it. Here is another little view point we stopped at. The wind was really blowing from the canyon and was just whipping my hair all around. Just look! the canyon goes on for miles and miles!

We found a 3 mile round trip trail that went all along the rim of the canyon. We decided to go for it and grabbed our water and hit the trail. It meandered through the pines and brushed the rim of the canyon in several places. We took every chance to inch as close to the edge as we dared.

We walked out on another ledge that jutted out over the canyon at the end of the trail. I am trying to show you the depth of the canyon with some of these shots, but the camera just cannot capture the whole grandeur of the place. It is indescribable. We were out on the edge of the rock on the right of this photo.

Who could ask for a more beautiful place? Brilliant blue skies, scuttling clouds, wind soughing through the boughs, the scent of the pines so strong it was almost overwhelming, warm sun, and visual images so magnificent it almost hurt the eyes. Who could ever doubt the creation and who it was for? I certainly know - and give my thanks to God for his loving kindness.