25 September 2018.

(Location: Springdale to Grand Canyon North Rim)

(Editor’s note: just to let you all know that we are headed to the Grand Canyon. Not sure of WiFi availability there, so if this page stays blank for a few days, rest assured it will be updated when connectivity is back. Bye for now…)

Today we were moving on. Nevertheless, we got up in a fairly leisurely manner, before going for breakfast. We brought a coffee back to the room, finished packing and then sat on the patio for a final time before loading up the car and departing.

Our first stop was Zion Cycles. Andrew browsed the cycle jerseys and bought a new one and we both picked up a new bottle to replace our old ones. Not sure if us saying how we come every year and me showing the assistant photos of me cycling at home wearing their jerseys helped, but we got a discount anyway! (This on top of getting the ‘locals’ discount at Pizza & Noodle last night).

Then it was time for fuelling the car and some final shopping at Sol’s.

Usually we head out through the park but Google said it was almost as quick to go via Hurricane, which we did. This meant we got to drive a new (to us) road, over to Fredonia and US-89A. To start with we could see the Zion summits, before we turned further south and then we had a variety of colourful rocks, cliffs and scenery.

We reached Jacob Lake Inn and called in for lunch, sitting at the old style counter. It was good and we got a good feel about the place, which was just as well, as we are staying here later tonight!

Energy levels restored, we drove the 45 miles to the rim. We wandered along the rim and out to Bright Angel Point. It was noticeably cooler than Zion, thankfully, although the direct sun was still pretty hot. More noticeable still was the altitude. At 8,161 feet, the trail undulations were hard work. After exploring the rim near the lodge, we found a table outside on the lodge patio in the shade, where we sat for a while, admiring the view.

Andrew went to buy us cold drinks. There was some confusion at the till and they ended up adding them to someone else’s bill…who kindly said it was fine, he’d get them! He was wearing a Lewis Hamilton t-shirt, so Andrew had a brief chat before thanking him for the drinks and returning to our table, where we next got in to a chat with Karen, originally from Alabama, now from Indiana… it was a relaxing way to spend time and soak up the scenery.

We returned to the Inn, checked in and found our room, which is more spacious than I expected, and very nice. We went for dinner in the restaurant, also tasty, and then relaxed, sorted through photos and watched tv. No Wi-fi so blog posting will have to wait…