Grand Canyon

We're leaving the Grand Canyon today after a two night stay. A lot of people told us, "it sounds cliche, but you must go to the Grand Canyon. It's something you can't miss." They are right; everyone must see the Grand Canyon.

More than 90% of Grand Canyon visitors go to the South Rim, so we went to the North Rim, to avoid the crowds. We came up from the South, so went through the Painted Desert and by the Vermillion Cliffs before we started to go up into the Kaibab National Forest and then to the Grand Canyon. When we were down around 4,000 feet in the desert, it was about 100 degrees at 11:00 a.m. When we came up to the Canyon, at 8,000 feet, we were surrounded by a beautiful pine forest and the temperature dropped more than 30 degrees!

It was so beautiful and comfortable we decided to stay two days. We stayed at Jacob Lake Inn, in the National Forest about 45 miles from the rim. The Inn was built in 1923 and is a classic mountain lodge,with cabins and motel units and a restaurant/ gift shop. We would definitely stay here again.

The recession is impacting tourism. No matter where we go, we have no problem finding a place to stay or signing up for recreational activites- raft trips, etc- on the spot. Nothing seems to be booked anywhere. The Grand Canyon Lodge was booked, but even that place had vacancies later in the week; the Lodge is the sort of place you would expect to be booked for the Summer at this point. This is really too bad for the comunities that rely on tourist dollars; I hope things pick up soon.