Is there anything more depressing than waking up in your own bed and going to an office to work after a great weekend camping trip?
I mean, yeah, lots of things, but also? Having to wake up and go to work (thankfully I’m working from home, still) after waking up the night before in a tent in a forest at the rim of the MOTHER EFFING GRAND CANYON is still pretty damn depressing.
I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend camping up at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park with a few other Northern Arizona Returned Peace Corps Volunteers!
Jim (who leads the local chapter of RPCVs) organizes a camping trip to the North Rim every six months or so. Northern Arizona RPCVs adopted a stretch of Arizona State Route 67 (aka: Grand Canyon Highway) through the Arizona Department of Transportation. Per ADOT rules, we’ve gotta get our butts up there twice a year to clean trash off the two-mile stretch.
Fun fact: Jim intentionally picked this stretch of road because it forces him to go to the North Rim twice a year. Gotta love that logic.
So, my coworker/ fellow RPCV Jane and I loaded up my Jeep early this past Saturday morning so we could make the four-hour drive to North Rim Campground.
We were sharing a campsite with Jim and his wife Pat, and when we got there, they were out hiking. We set up our hammocks and took a nap while we waited for them to return and tell us where we could set up camp.
After we set up, we went hiking. We took the Transept Trail to the North Rim Lodge and Bright Angel Point, and wandered around for a bit.
This was my first ever trip up to the North Rim of the canyon. Jane and I went to the South Rim during my first week in Flagstaff, but the North Rim is a bit more of a journey. It takes about 90 minutes to get to the South Rim from Flagstaff, but it’s much more of a drive to get to the North Rim, since, yunno, you have to drive around the entire hole in the ground.
However, the extra few hours are TOTALLY worth it! The North Rim is about 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim, so you can see beyond the canyon. It was clear enough (luckily, no wildfire smoke!) that we were able to see straight across the canyon to the San Francisco Peaks, which are just north of the City of Flagstaff.
Because the North Rim is at a higher elevation, it was also a lot cooler than the South Rim with more pine trees.
And, finally… there were WAY fewer tourists! Our campground was so quiet and the trails were sparse.
I’ve only made one trip to each rim now, but I honestly prefer the North Rim a LOT more based just on these two trips.
After our quick hike, we went back to camp for dinner.
Jane made mac and cheese and — of course — s’mores.
When we planned this trip, we knew that we’d be going into Stage 2 fire restrictions the following week, so we took advantage of the last weekend we knew we could have a campfire.
(Under Stage 2 restrictions, campfires are only allowed at developed recreation sites and campgrounds.)
Then, we went to sleep.
The next morning, we had breakfast and coffee before we packed everything back up (it was a quick trip, yaayyy 9-to-5 life) and ventured out to complete our service project.
While there are 30-40-some-odd RPCVs living in and around Flagstaff, a combination of factors (COVID, heat, distance, etc.) led to a smaller-than-usual turnout.
So, it was just me (Ukraine), Jim (Liberia) and Jane (Namibia), along with Jim’s wife — who isn’t an RPCV, but met Jim in Liberia and often accompanies us because, well, she can and she’s awesome.
Then, after finishing our four miles (two miles each way), Jane and I hopped in my Jeep, stopped at Jacob Lake Inn for milkshakes, and headed back to Flagstaff.
We could have extended our trip a little bit by driving up Friday after work instead of Saturday morning, but we both really wanted to drive during the daylight.
Case in point:
One of the coolest parts of the long drive is the Vermillion Cliffs. We were “stuck” behind an Airstream trailer for a portion of the drive and ugh, how pretty.
Anyway, we got back to Flagstaff, unloaded, picked up Yukon and fin.
I’m already excited for our next highway clean up (in October?) cause, ugh, North Rim is beautiful. Jim TOTALLY had the right idea with picking that stretch of highway.
See ya in six months!
