Cape Final, GCNP, 7/27/12

The North Rim marked the beginning of our taking walks (or hikes, depending upon your definition). Our first night at the lodge, Patti crashed early as a result of taking seasickness pills earlier in the day for our tour of Lake Powell. Never one to miss an opportunity, I walked out to Bright Angel Point in order to shoot the sunset. The pictures were completely worth the effort, but what I hadn’t taken into account was that we were at about 8300 feet, which is about 8290 more than I’m used to. The walk back up to the lodge was an eye opener for me. Surprisingly, that was the only time I was significantly out of breath during this trip. Which is not to say the only time I was out of breath.

The next day we got in the car and checked out, in order, Point Imperial, Cape Royal (which includes Angel’s Window) and a nice hike to Cape Final, followed by some cold beers on the lodge veranda. Since our priorities on this road trip were, in no particular order, to see cool stuff, do some walking/hiking, take beautiful pictures, and relax/not knock ourselves out, this day can be marked as a complete success. This was also the first real test of my recently upgraded cardiovascular system which seemed to pass admirably.

When we got home and I started scrubbing the photos we took, I realized that many of them lend themselves to being cropped into panoramas. Here are some from our time at the North Rim. I’m already looking forward to returning to explore more. We only touched the surface on this trip!

Near the North Rim Lodge, GCNP, 7/26/12

Sunset at the North Rim Lodge, GCNP, 7/26/12

View from Cape Final, GCNP, 7/27/12

Sunset at the North Rim Lodge, GCNP, 7/27/12

Sunset at the North Rim Lodge, GCNP, 7/27/12