Escape Route 2 - 2019 - Adventures in our Casita

Grand Canyon North Rim or Bust!

Monday May 20 - Wednesday May 22, 2019

We filled up with water (for drinking and trailer use) and left the Kaibab Paiute RV Park and drove up Hwy 389 to Fredonia, then south on Hwy 89A to Jacob Lake where we stopped at the cafe for some bakery goods (we had heard that they had some great cookies). The clouds were building to the south and snow was just beginning to fall at 7000 ft. We intended to drive on to the Demott Campground just outside the park which sat at 8000+ feet - 40 more miles. RV after RV topped with snow had passed us on the highway and an individual at the gas station advised us not to proceed since snow was predicted to fall until the weekend. He had just left the North Rim Campground and had 5 inches of snow on his truck and trailer - an Escape. He said the road had been closed that morning and previous evening. He indicated that it was really uncomfortable camping in those conditions.

We verified the road and weather conditions at the Jacob Lake Inn and then decided to have lunch there to discuss our options. We had 7 days reservations at Demott, but camping in 5 inches of snow and the related mud was not appealing to us.

We also checked at the front desk for vacancies and they were able to set us up with accommodations for the next three days (Yes!) We liked the cozy little inn and particularly liked how nicely the people there treated us, so that sounded ideal. Yummy food, a lovely dining room, nice accommodations, a cozy area to sit near a fire and an interesting gift shop, it all worked for us, so we changed our plans and walked over to the Visitor's Center nearby to cancel our camping reservations.

After lunch, we dropped our Casita in the rear parking lot, locked it up, and drove up the hill to the North Rim to see the canyon. What we saw convinced us that our decision was sound and we were very pleased to have changed our plans.

The Demott Campground area - covered in snow

Viewing the Grand Canyon from the North Rim

Deck lounge chairs at the lodge - empty now with the snow.

The charming Jacob Lake Inn and Cafe

The charming Jacob Lake cafe interior with beautiful Navajo weaving artwork

One night while at the inn, I was fortunate to be able to attend a lecture on the Navajo Spider Woman story and her impact on Navajo weaving art and what makes these weavings so extraordinary. The stories and the culture were fascinating! Imagine weaving a 5 X 8 rug from wool spun from your own sheep (that you raised) and working on this artwork totally by memory without a written design, and finally completing this art piece after 6 long months... Whew!

Our Demott campsite - complete with snow and mud and 34 degree temps.
Check out al the other campers!

The clouds cleared briefly providing a spectacular view of the canyon below

Snowfall continued on our drive back from the lodge

On the second morning at the inn, snowfall covered all of vehicles.

Snow intensified on our second day driving up to the North Rim lodge.

Our campsite covered in snow - beautiful, but daunting.

This is such a beautiful area, we really want to return sometime when the meadows are green and the sun is shining. We missed several wonderful drives around the canyon rim and missed out on the opportunity to stay at that normally ideal campground. We also missed out on hiking down into the canyon - at least for several hours. The canyon walls are gorgeous and we still want to have that experience again. We will be back!

On our last day there, we treated ourselves to a wonderfully relaxing lunch in the North Rim lodge dining room with its spectacular view over the canyon walls. Perfect!

Our plan for the rest of this week is to head down through Page to camp at the FCFS campground in the Navajo National Monument - formerly known as Betataken, to view the major cliff dwelling communities built within the canyon walls there. This has always been one of our favorite places to visit and because it is not well known, it should be relatively quiet, even over the usually busy Memorial Day holiday. We are also hoping for warmer weather there. We shall soon see!

A peek at what we expect to view tomorrow on our drive toward Betataken Thursday on May 23rd: