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Home > Archive > Oct 3, 2007

A Grand Departure
By Sharon May
Managing Editor
In a week and a half, on Oct. 15, the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park closes for the fall and winter, making this a good time for one last trip to the park for a fond goodbye until next season.
In addition to one more drive to Cape Royal at the end of Walhalla plateau, with its stunning overlooks, and a cozy dinner at the Grand Canyon Lodge, this is an excellent time for an early fall hike along the rim. A rewarding hike, and one less strenuous than the North Kaibab Trail, is the Widforss Trail.
This trail is usually fairly empty of hikers, although my recent hike found me crossing paths with more than a dozen hikers.
The Widforss is a good one to hike quietly in order to see deer and wild turkeys. The North Rim’s famous tassel-eared Kaibab squirrel can be spotted darting about, as well, with its snow-white bushy tail causing an occasional hiker to yelp, “Skunk!” (OK, I did that only once).
To say that the fall scenery was beautiful is an understatement. The Widforss Trail – named after Gunnar Widforss, a Grand Canyon painter of the 1930s – is a glorious combination of glittering aspens, decked out in bright yellow this time of year, and aromatic ponderosa. Spruce and fir get into the act, and thickets of ferns line sections of the trail.
The trail takes hikers through spectacular colors: The white bark of aspens stark against the deep mahogany of ponderosas; the emerald green of firs and the bluish tinge of spruce; the brilliant gold-coin leaves of the aspen flashing against a flag-blue sky. And then, the trail curves against the rim of the canyon, and below is another grandeur of red, creamy yellow and white erosions, buttes and spires.
On my Sept. 30 hike, the temperature was a nippy 31 degrees as I started uphill, trail guide brochure in a gloved hand. But very soon, sunshine began slipping between the trees and warming the forest, and as each hour of hiking passed, I shed another layer, until I was down to my T-shirt. The balance of cool air and warm sun was ideal for hiking.
The brochure provided at the trailhead describes 14 numbered stops in the first 2.5 miles of the trail. This self-guided hike to #14 and back would give hikers a lovely five-mile scenic walk through the aspen-ponderosa forest and along the rim.
After the last brochure marker, the trail dips into a cleft – one of several – and then climbs back up to rim top, although much of the final two miles to Widforss point is basically flat. Along the way, groves of aspen, venerable old ponderosa, fields of russet ferns and tall grasses line the trail. Portions of the trail near the point pass through fire-blackened pines, the result of lightning.
Just as I began to think the path would never reach Widforss Point, a picnic table appeared ahead and then a sign marking the point. There are no restrooms and no water, however, and camping is by permit only.
Widforss Point is a good overlook into the canyon, although there is no river view. But almost straight across the big ditch is the South Rim, and binoculars make it possible to follow the switchbacks of the Bright Angel Trail from the rim, down the precipices and across the inner plateaus.
After a snack, water and a few photos, another five miles returns hikers to the trailhead parking, filled with a large-enough dose of glorious North Rim scenery to last until late spring when the park opens again.

Although the park’s South Rim remains open all year, the North Rim closes to vehicles on Oct. 15. Until snow, however, hiking into the park is still allowed. Jacob Lake remains open throughout winter. Park entrance is $25 per vehicle.

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