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Transition Day
Bright Angel Point, North Rim, Grand Canyon
Tuesday, September 23
Yesterday, our Grand Canyon rim-to-rim adventure had come to a successful end. Item number one on our Checklist Edition trip had been achieved.

The second phase of our trip took place in Zion National Park. We had budgeted the entire day to transition from Grand Canyon's North Rim to Zion. Since the road trip distance between the two locations was at most two and a half hours, we had a big cushion of time. We therefore decided to spend the morning doing a final bit of North Rim sightseeing.
Morning at North Rim CG
A perfect day had dawned over the Grand Canyon. The skies were crystal clear and the air was still and cool.

Now rejoined with the entire Hatko family, we started receiving a visitor at our campsite - a visitor that would appear with regularity over the coming days. This visitor was very fond of small rocks, furry toys, and mostly anything sweet. And wore a bright gold North Rim junior ranger badge.
courtesy JInnes
Breakfast Tea
The Camping Hatkos
Breakfast at North Rim
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
Hair taming
Junior Ranger Katie
We decided that we had more than enough time to explore the nearby Grand Canyon Lodge area and Bright Angel Point. Both were situated at the end of the narrow peninsula of Kaibab Plateau that jutted southward between the canyon of The Transept and Roaring Springs Canyon. The same peninsula upon which our campground was situated.
courtesy JInnes
To the point
To the point
Gold Leaf Mushrooms
Chris, Gillian, Sandra, Alana and the kids decided to drive to the Grand Canyon Lodge parking area. Given the short distance between our campsite and the peninsula tip, we decided to hike through the beautiful open forest. We left a bit earlier so as to meet up at roughly the same time near or at Bright Angel Point.
North Rim Complex buildings
Sunny North Rim Day
Back on the Bridle Path
The walk from the campground to the Grand Canyon Lodge area was about as straightforward and as pleasant as you could imagine. We just pointed ourselves in the generally correct direction, and walked. We walked through stretches of tall, open forest, and past several park complex buildings. We eventually intersected the wide Bridle Path, which soon crossed the main park road and began leading along an edge of the peninsula, with Roaring Springs Canyon - the very canyon we just finished hiking out of on the North Kaibab - on our left.
We were down there
As we approached the end of the peninsula, we began to encounter more people - both day visitors and residents of the park's Lodge system and campground. The area we were entering was probably the busiest part of the entire North Rim (Even so, the North Rim only experiences ten percent of the visitation the South Rim receives).

We passed a crowded parking lot on our right, then reached an area where the Grand Canyon Lodge's cabins were attractively scattered about underneath the tall pines. These cabins were built in the "National Park Service Rustic" architectural style in the late 1920s. They were very attractive, and the most advantageously-placed of these cabins were a mere stone's throw from fantastic rim views.
Rimside Walk
Lodge Cabins
North Rim Interpretive Plaque
At the far end of the cabins, we arrived at the tip of the peninsula. The flat land of the Kaibab Plateau ended here, and the immense depths of the Grand Canyon spread out to the south.
Grand Canyon Lodge
Start, Bright Angel Point Trail
Oza Butte
From the tip of the peninsula, a narrow and craggy ridge of Kaibab Limestone extends south-east, out into the void for perhaps another 600 yards (6/10ths of a kilometer). Along the crest of this ridge, paved and well-constructed, runs the Bright Angel Point trail. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the trail is situated the fine lookout point known as Bright Angel Point.
courtesy PChen
Bright Angel Point trail
Sunny Ridgewalk
Scenic Ridgewalk
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[ Return to "The Checklist Edition" Home page | Introduction | Day 1 : South Kaibab to Clear Creek Trail | Day 2 : Clear Creek Tr to Cottonwood Camp | Day 3 : Cottonwood Camp to North Rim | The North Rim | Drive to Zion | Lady Mountain Redux | The Subway | Angel's Landing | Zion in Flood | Valley of Fire | Wind-up and Return | The "Short Report" | GPS Data ]


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