Week 96: From the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Zion National Park!
Storms, sunsets and sunshine!
Hello, hello, and welcome back to another update! It’s so good to have you here. This week we journeyed from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Zion National Park. I have so much to share this week, so let’s jump right in!
Camping on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
When we left off last week we were camping on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Kaibab National Forest near Locust Point.
When I say “camping on the rim” I mean it too — this is the view from the van:
Wow!
Kaibab National Forest ends about 6 feet down from the edge of the cliff and that’s where Grand Canyon National Park begins!
Here’s a different angle so you can better see where we are — don’t worry, we’re not that close to the edge:
And here’s the view out the bedroom window by our feet — what a way to wake up!
I’m so thankful that the area around the Grand Canyon is protected by the National Forest, keeping it safe from development and acting as a buffer zone.
I spent some time in camp playing with pen, ink, and gouache, trying to capture the feeling of being here and posted a quick video over on Instagram:
Now that you’ve seen where we are, let’s talk about what we’ve been up to!
Hike to Fence Point
As luck would have it, the Rainbow Rim Trail runs near our campsite, about a half mile from Locust Point. So we decided to hike to Fence Point, the next major opening in the forest with views of the Grand Canyon:
The views along the 4 mile hike to Fence Point didn’t disappoint!
It’s hard to take the Grand Canyon in — it’s just so grand that the mind can’t comprehend it! Here’s Jason for scale, pointing to Fence Point:
That’s Fence Point off in the distance:
When we got there we stopped in the shade for a snack, trying out these Fillo’s Walking Tamales for the first time:
I heard about them from my friend and fellow traveler Jess — give her a follow if you love adventure and travel and art! We liked the bean salsa verde ones best — the sweet corn elotes was also good but a little too sweet for our taste.
Then we turned around and headed back the way came, for 8.5 miles on the day. What a great hike!
Rockfall!
One morning we were eating breakfast as usual, when something UNusual happened!
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and the next thing I knew there was a cloud of dust rising through the air!
The strangest thing was that I didn’t make a sound!
It was so cool to see geology in action!
AEONrv Meetup!
On Sunday, fellow AEONrv owners Ellen and Craig drove over to our campsite and we had the best time talking and comparing rigs! They have AEON #109, and ours is #111, so we’re guessing they were worked on at the same time at the manufacturing facility in Reno, Nevada. It was probably there when we picked ours up back in November 2025 since they didn’t pick theirs up until January.
It was cool to see them together again on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!
Their dog Otter had us all laughing as he tried to play fetch with this 15 or so foot sapling:
Safe and happy travels, Ellen and Craig! Hope to see you again down the road.
If ever you or a friend is interested in purchasing an AEONrv of your own, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have! Also! They’ve given me a referral link to share with you for a discount.
Forest Hikes
I wanted to share a few photos from our hikes in the other direction from camp on the Rainbow Rim Trail, too.
This section doesn’t have as many views of the Grand Canyon, but it does have awesome stands of Ponderosa pines:
It’s much cooler in the forest and the air smells so good.
And it makes the views even more special when you’ve been walking through the forest and get to see the canyon.
Wind and Dust
We had a few days with high winds, so we hunkered down in the van! Dust was in the air and made for some spectacular sunsets:
Rain and Sleet and Hail!
One day we had a storm roll in with rain turning to sleet and hail! It was so cool to see!
I was thankful once again that we’re not tent campers anymore!
Ever Changing Light
I never tired of watching the light play across the canyon walls. Sometimes I just sat and watched it play across the cliffs. A deep peace filled my soul.
I wanted to share a few favorite photos so hopefully you could feel it too.
Kanab, Utah
Thursday we sadly left our Grand Canyon home and headed to Kanab, Utah so that we could do laundry and get groceries.
Then we camped at Hog Canyon for the night just outside Kanab:
It was a pretty neat area — I hope we get to come back again someday and stay longer!
Zion National Park, Utah
Friday we left our camp spot and headed for Zion National Park. I’ve always wanted to go here and I almost couldn’t believe it was happening!
We came in East entrance and a ranger measured the van to make sure that we would fit in the park’s famous tunnel — and we did! We had researched it ahead of time and also got confirmation from fellow AEONrv owners that we’d be okay, but it was still a feeling of relief to get official confirmation. We got a tag to put on the dash that says we’re an “undersized vehicle” — I had a laugh at that!
After a long wait we got to go through the tunnel — I was glad when it was over! Whew!
After we got set up at the campground we walked over to the Visitor Center — it was quite a shock to the system seeing so many people!
We’re too used to the quiet and solitude of our Grand Canyon home.
Watchman Trail, Zion National Park
Saturday we decided to hike the Watchman Trail since we could walk over to it right from camp and not have to wait in line for a shuttle or try to drive the van somewhere and find parking.
We saw so many cool plants and the views were stunning! Here are just a few favorite photos:
We loved seeing the cottonwood trees glowing bright lime green along the creek:
We had read that there was an unmaintained trail past the loop trail and decided to keep going — I was glad we did because it felt like we had the whole park to ourselves!
We had a little snack, then I did a sketch and Jason read his book.
Ahhhh, peace at last. We went a little further down the trail, then turned turned around when it got too sketchy for my taste:
On the way back we made some new friends — first there was this cute snek:
And then a cool lizard:
I wish I could have got a photo to show you of him running — he ran on his hind legs and he was FAST!
Then we headed back to camp, soaking in the view of the Virgin River:
What a great day!
The crowds were crazy on the way up the trail — it wasn’t as bad on the way back — and people are acting crazy to boot. On the walk to the trailhead there was a traffic accident in the Visitor Center parking lot — we don’t know what happened, but there were 2 law enforcement vehicles on the scene. Then on the trail there were two sets of hikers with bluetooth speakers blasting music as they hiked that echoed off the canyon walls. Jason said something to the second group and they turned it off, than goodness.
As I’m typing this, the people in the campsite next to us started flying a drone — Jason told them that drones aren’t allowed in National Parks and they shut it down.
I’ve come to appreciate the quiet solitude of our beloved Big Bend even more.
Speaking of Big Bend…
Big Bend Border Wall Update
As of this writing, the border wall through Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park is still up in the air. There have been some reports that there will “only” be detection technology in both parks, but no official official statement has been released.
No one is sure what “detection technology” entails, but the fear here is that lighting will ruin this International Dark Sky park. And remember, this border wall is not needed as the entire Big Bend sector has had historically low numbers of crossings — even the five sheriffs from local counties have said it’s not needed and the money is better spent elsewhere.
Follow No Big Bend Wall to stay updated and see how you can help save Big Bend!
In other Big Bend news, the badly needed project to repair the Chisos Basin has been cancelled. They couldn’t get any bids for the project. Does anyone else see the irony here?
Chaco Culture Historic Site needs our help: the administration wants to revoke protections 336,000 acres of public land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and they’re allowing a 7 day public comment period that ends on April 7th. More than Just Parks has a good writeup with action steps that you can do. Here’s our post from when we visited Chaco.
That’s a Wrap
That’s it for this week! That was a loooong post — thanks for sticking until the end!
And thanks so much for following along on our adventures, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate! — Lisa, Jason, and Henry-the-Van
'Spectacular photos and great write-ups, Lisa😍❣️