Day 31 Daily posting, Grand Canyon North Rim camp

What a pleasant night it turned out to be last night, alone in the forest with Donner, a bottle of rose, and Nessum Dorma wafting through the forest in loop mode.

As it turned out, someone else did indeed have the same idea as we did last night. At 8:30, in complete darkness, a vehicle dared to drive that rugged dirt road looking for a bivouac themselves. They stopped aways away from our piece of the forest, and then drove farther up the dirt road. They were never heard from again.

I did not sleep well last night, mainly because i was trying to work out contingency plans if the Defender did not start in the morning. Of 500 days on the road, only five times did it nit start, so the odds were in my favor. But when i finally worked up a contingency plan, i fell asleep at 1:30, only to be awakened 30 minutes later by the howling of nearby coyotes. After 30 minutes of their chorus, which was really quite pleasant, i fell asleep.

Up at 7, the Defender did start like a charm. We set off for the north rim camp and i was able to snag a cancellation fortwo nights, not just the one night i snagged yesterday, so we set up camp in a pleasant site and got on our way to see what we came to see.

The north rim viewing areas are fewer than at the south rim, but nonetheless spectacular. Unfortunately, they do not allow dogs on the choice viewing areas by the visitors center here, as does the south rim, so it was not as enjoyable for us. Also, the sunset here is restricted, which may explain why there were only eight other people watching. In contrast, at the south rim this time last year, there were hundreds. The fact that everything but the campground closed down here last week may explain it. Too cold for most people on this side of the canyon.

Because i accomplished all i set out to do here today , i think we will move on tomorrow to Bluff Utah and then Arches. I may decide to bivouac for a night in Monument Valley though. I will decide that when the road takes us where it wants us to go.

Ed and Donner, from the road