2. North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Highway 89A heads in an easterly direction until it reaches Jacob Lake junction which has a gas station, restaurant, and I found out later that a Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center. The road to the Park entrance was very scenic. The elevation is somewhere around 7,000 ft and the road passes through several large clearings or meadows surrounded by pine trees and rimmed with groves of aspens.

The cloud cover was low in places and random drops of rain sprinkled on my windshield. The frustrating thing about this section of road is the limited number of turnoffs available to stop and take pictures. There was a short wait in line at the Park entrance station and then several more miles of road to get to the canyon rim.

I was surprised to find that the fairly large parking lot for the Visitor Center and Main Lodge was about half full. There is a small visitor center located near the main lodge. I bought some items at the visitor center and walked over to a sign describing the Bright Angel trail.

While reading the sign I almost had an expensive disaster. My camera strap unraveled and the camera dropped to the ground. The camera body landed on the side of my shoe and then rotated with the lens hitting the asphalt paving. I checked the camera and it appears that only damage was a cracked optional UV lens I installed to protect the main lens. The camera and lens do not seem to have any damage. I was so distracted thinking about the camera that I forgot to visit the main lodge.

Along the Bright Angel trail I noticed cabins near the main lodge within a stone throw of the canyon rim. It must be great to sit on the porch of the cabin, admire the vista, and watch the hikers pass by. Further along the trail I could see part of the main lodge.