3 June 2023 North Rim

 The North Rim of the Grand Canyon NP was supposed to open on 15 May which is why we scheduled our stay at Jacob’s Lake. Due to the heavy snow (over 25 feet) this winter, they announced on the website they were delaying the opening of the main portion of the North Rim until 2 June and the roads to the beautiful Point Imperial and Point Royal Overlooks until 15 June. A 300 foot section of the water line from the canyon floor was wiped out by a landslide so there was limited services planned. The North Rim Lodge would not open until the end of July. When we checked the website on 2 June to check if they opened, we were surprised to see they had also opened the roads to Point Imperial and Point Royal early. We decided to head on up today since the weather forecast look better than on Sunday or Monday. We (Bill, Pam, Leslie and David) left early and stopped at Jacob’s Lake Lodge for a delicious breakfast. As we pulled up to the park entrance, it started to snail (Snow and Hail) on us and the temperature dropped down into the 40s. But as we drove into the park, the clouds cleared off and the temperatures came back up to the 70s. We first drove to the visitor center and got our passport stamp, post cards, and park hat. We strolled around the to the veranda of the closed Grand Canyon Lodge to take in the view of the canyon. We walked down to the observation points to the east and west of the lodge and enjoyed the vistas. We then drove to Point Imperial (the highest point on the North Rim at 8803 feet) and then to Point Royal. The views into this magnificent canyon were incredible. We could have sat on the veranda of the lodge and just watched the changing shadows in the canyon for hours! On the way back we again stopped at the Jacob’s Lake Inn for dinner before heading back to Kanab.