Grand Canyon North Rim to Paria Outpost

The drive from Grand Canyon North Rim to Paria Outfitters was absolutely stunning.  It was a three hour drive but we spent the whole day with many stops to take pictures... 

Before we left the park we had a chance to photograph a Kaibab Squirrel, a variety of squirrel that lives only at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas.

We had heard of a site on a gravel road off the highway we were driving where Condors are released. Often biologists will be there working on the project,but not the day we were there.  We found information about California Condors but we did not see any birds.

We  drove a bit farther out the gravel road.  Still no Condors, but we did see these curious creatures... 

...and beautiful scenery...

Vermillion Cliffs are one edge of a big uplifted plate, roughly 25x30 miles across

We followed the south side Vermillion Cliffs... 

..and these Ravens tagged along for a while

We made a side trip to Lee's Ferry.  We knew Lee's Ferry is the launching site for Grand Canyon raft trips but neither of us had any idea what a beautiful spot it is... 

Large boulders from the cliff tops, after most of the soil under where they fell has been eroded away. 

Large Morning Glories grow here.

Manganese and Copper add more colors to the cliffside.

...or knew the history of the place.  For many years it was the only place the Colorado River could be crossed for hundreds of miles up and down the river.  We took a short walk to explore ruins of early buildings...

The remains of Fort Meeks, at Lee's Ferry

Note the shape of windows, enabling those inside more angles to fire outward.

...then sat and ate a picnic lunch while watching rafting expeditions prepare for their launch down the river tomorrow morning.   

When we finally got going again, we were quickly distracted by the Navajo Bridge. Built in 1927, it spanned the deep vertical canyon just downstream from Lees Ferry. That structure no longer carries the highway, which now uses a more modern 4-lane bridge just downstream from it. But the original is now a pedestrian bridge over the Colorado.  Of course we had to walk over it for more sights and photos. 

The Colorado River from Navajo Bridge. 

Sediment swirls in the river. 

After prying ourselves off the bridge, we continued past more beautiful scenery...

Just before we begin the big climb to the top of this plateau.

Halfway up, looking back at Vermillion Cliffs. The Colorado River is in the large canyon.

...to to our next provision stop: Page, Arizona. By the time we arrived there we had run out of room on the camera memory card. We found the area around Page, which includes the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell to be surprisingly photogenic. Fortunately we will be coming back through here, as Page is our resting stop for the following 3 nights after Paria Canyon.

It is Friday night now and we are in our little bed and breakfast room at Paria Outpost.  It is pretty basic with a shower in the corner of the room and bathrooms outside and around the corner but it is comfy and we are very comfortable here.  When we arrived an anniversary card was waiting on the pillow for Colleen that Ed had sent ahead.  I was, of course, delighted with the sweet gesture!  We have the place to ourselves until morning and we had the most delightful picnic dinner on the big wrap-around porch, watching the local scenery and the ominous clouds rolling in.  Weather may cancel our tour of Vermillion Cliffs South Coyote Buttes area tomorrow.  We'll try to get a good night sleep, and hope that our hosts feel it is safe to do our tour tomorrow. They don't want to risk getting caught in a thunderstorm atop a treeless mountain that can only be reached on extremely rough tracks that are prone to flash flooding and mud quagmires...and neither do we. We'll find out in the morning.