Grand Canyon Expedition: Rafting the Colorado & Exploring the North Rim

There are highway rest stops along the route and we took advantage of them for an al fresco picnic lunch. Just outside of Albuquerque is this quirky collection of antiques and assorted "junque" in a rambling assembly of buildings. We especially enjoyed the sailboat and the account of its voyage. Some locals were shooting a movie on the premises during our visit.

We have visited Albuquerque before and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (see our trip report "The High Country of New Mexico: Land of Enchantment on a Budget). Since we were only here for an overnight on this visit we decided to concentrate our visit in Old Town where we could park the cars and walk to all of our destinations. We enjoyed a pre-dinner visit to the plaza and the San Felipe de Neri church.

There are plenty of grest places to eat in Old Town - we chose High Noon because they had live guitar music during dinner and we also took advantage of discount coupons provided by our innkeeper. Two of our party were adventurous and ordered wild game specials and we were all happy with our experience. After dinner there were still some shops open for browsing and buying.

Since we still had miles to drive, we took an hour walk before breakfast and enjoyed the desert landscaping in the neighborhood and the sculptures around the nearby museums.

As we drove north of Flagstaff and entered the canyon country the landscape became increasingly dramatic. We loved the desert rocks and the evening light against the Vermillion Cliffs as we approached our destination, however the word "Lodge" is rather loosely used at Cliff dwellers :) Our rooms were roadside motel style in a gorgeous setting. The boys took advantage of the proximity to Lee's Ferry to do a little fishing before dinner. The Lodge has a gas station and a well-stocked camping supply shop as well as a casual restaurant where we were pleasantly surprised by the menu. As we ate, we checked out our fellow diners wondering which of them might be joining us on our rafting adventure.

A motorized, seven-day journey down the Colorado was at the heart of our trip. A certain number of permits are issued to outfitters each year so a trip like this requires advanced planning. We booked 8 or 9 months before our trip and payment (more than $2000/person before tipping) is due well before departure. We spent a lot of time investigating outfitters and in the end Hatch seemed the best fit for us. With the age range of our party we wanted something more comfortable (back support was key for one of us) than the oar boats, though that would certainly be a wonderful trip! We wound up on a trip with 2 boats holding our party of 6, a family group of 10, and a group of about a dozen friends. Our children were the only kids on the trip and I wouldn't recommend it for very young ones. We had 2 awesome, very experienced guides and a young swamper who took in the ability and interest of the group and planned each day accordingly. i especially appreciated their efforts to get us to the more frequented river stops prior to other groups so that we avoided "crowds" whenever possible.

As a finale to our rafting trip we were picked up at our river campsite by helicopter and taken on a scenic flight to the ranch. There were snacks and shopping and showers (very welcome to some after a week on the river) as well as lots of day-trippers heading off for some time on the river. This is where our rafting party divided; some headed for airport connections home, 8 of us continued our scenic flight by plane upriver to Cliff Dwellers.

We packed up our cars and headed off to the north rim for more canyon adventures. We stopped in Jacob Lake for picnic lunch supplies and browsed the giftshop.

We enjoyed our picnic lunch and an orientation to the area at the park visitor center.

After a lodge breakfast we spent a lovely day exploring some of the rim trails (Roosevelt Point, Cape Royal, Cliff Springs, and Point Imperial). At the altitude of the North Rim, a sunny summer day was quite temperate and blooming wildflowers abounded. The park provides a good trail map and we elected to drive a bit and explore the rim as opposed to hiking down into the canyon. It was fun to look down on parts of the river that we had visited by raft. We read and played games in the evening before another great dinner at the lodge followed by some souvenier shopping in the large park gift-shop.
Two of us were up before dawn to watch the sun rise from Bright Angel Point. Even for those who are unable to hike the views from the lodge itself are breathtaking and ever-changing.

Upon departing the park, we watched herds of buffalo and then we crossed this bridge for the 3rd time. We stopped and lingered a bit at the visitor center to say goodbye to the wonderful river we had so enjoyed exploring.

As we drove through reservation country enjoying an appropriate Tony Hillerman audiobook, we stopped for lunch at this Burger King which had a small museum about the Navajo Code Talkers - for real! How fun.

We had to stop here for a family photo opportunity (holding hands while each of us stood in a different state). The people watching was the most interesting part!

We picked up breakfast to go (and did a little shopping) at the Far View Terrace Cafe before heading for our ranger-led tours of Balcony House and the Cliff Palace. These were wonderfully evocative experiences but not for those accessibility issues or with any fear of heights. We took some amzing photos as well.

One last roadside attraction and photo opportunity - if you've got the time, do stop by!

What more can I say? This was truly a trip of a lifetime - a chance to spend 2 weeks with family exploring natural and cultural history of one of the most unique ecosystems on the planet - and who knew we could eat so well along the way? This was not an inexpensive trip, it would be possible to trim expenses by camping and cooking for yourself, but we enjoyed every day of it!