North Rim of the Grand Canyon, AZ

We spent Father’s Day weekend completely off the grid camping along a forest service road, just a couple hundred feet from the rim of the Grand Canyon!

Jamaica had suggested this trip back in February and we were totally up for it; it had been four years since we had last been to the N. Rim of the Grand Canyon. Jamaica’s friends (Bart, Bonnie, Booker, and Bondi (their dog)) made the trek down too (after picking up their new camper in Denver) and everyone got along so well!

We met the group at the Sand Caves near Kanab, UT for a short, but hot hike to the caves along the side of the freeway. The caves were created as the hillside was mined for sand. The hike had a fun rope to assist in the ascent and descent of the cliff. Continuing on to Jacob Lake, we stayed the night in the cabins there so we could get an early start to find our campsite in the forest.

Although the spot that Jamaica and Brian had before was taken by other campers, we ended up with a great site not too far from Locust Point; close enough we walked to watch the sunset, but far enough away no kid (or dog) was going to find themselves at the edge of a cliff.

Rope climb up to the Sand Caves.

One of the 'caves' that sand was mined out of.

Pretty colors.

Heading deep into the forest to find our campsite.

The view a few hundred feet from our site.

Booker taking a picture with his dad.

Miles and Scott logged lots of quad time.

Brian relaxing.

Ella was inspired by Bonnie to RUN!

Jamaica taking Booker for a ride.

With Sunday being Father’s Day, we made sure to have a nature craft for the kids to create for their awesome dads. While Bart and Bonnie biked the Rainbow Trail, Jamaica and I facilitated the creation of “Dad, you rock!” cards, which I think turned out fantastic!

Throughout the slow days, the kids played while the adults chatted. Despite being at nearly 9,000 feet elevation, it was still quite warm with daytime temps reaching 80 degrees. Miles got more quad riding experience as he and Scott nearly had the forest service roads to themselves. I road with him one time and was in awe as I watched him navigate rocks and bumps in the road all by himself!

The weekend was much hotter than I thought it would be, however, it was quite nice to sit around catching up with Jamaica and learning more about Bart and Bonnie, who are avid runners and bikers. Their son, Booker, who is three, kept referring to me as “Whiskey” or “Frisky;” either of which I took as a compliment. We had a hilarious game of kid charades before watching the sunset over the massive canyon walls. With a couple cocktails in my system, reminiscing on all the laughter the day held, I quite literally fell asleep with a smile on my face that night.

With the Salt Lake City crew having a much longer drive home than us, they headed home while we decided to add a little more driving to our trip with a trek south to the N. Rim Visitor Center and Lodge. While there, Miles was able to stamp his National Parks book that he had been carrying around religiously, flipping through the pages that explained all of the national parks. Until our next stamp, kid!