May 17, 2013 Part One Grand Canyon North Rim

Beware!  This blog is picture intensive which is why it is in two parts.

Our adventure today was doing the North Rim Drive Tour.  The drive on the Kaibab Plateau and the Walhalla Plateau is as beautiful as the Canyon itself.

The aspens are just starting to leaf:

We passed thru the area where there was a fire in 2000.  I cannot imagine what it was like.  All the area surrounding the car including the hills behind the car were once filled with Ponderosa Pines.

After a fire, the first trees to grow are the aspens since they need a lot of sun.  Next are the pines that are shaded by the aspens.  Then as the pines grow tall, they block out the sun to the aspens.  The cycle of life!

There were lots of aspens in these areas:

There are five overlooks on the North Rim Drive.  This was our first view:

And the views continued on all the overlooks – WOW!:

Check out the helicopter:

The Walhalla Plateau:

This is fascinating:

At the Walhalla Plateau, there were ruins of a summer home that was used over 900 years ago:

And the views continued – see part two.

WOW!