After hours of driving towards the desert with line after line of carved rock cliffs looming out of the distance, we pulled off the road to investigate one of the many roadside stands where Navajo families would sell their arts and crafts to the tourists that pass by. We finally emerged facing a ridgeline that could only be a part of the Grand Canyon, yet we still could not see any hint of the Grand Canyon I knew from pictures and movies. After checking the map, they were in fact the Vermillion Cliffs of the Colorado Plateau. As we wound our way closer to this ridgeline, we crossed a bridge that caught us both unawares. As we crossed a bridge, the ground fell away into a canyon dropping nearly 500 feet to the river below. When we stopped to take a picture, we learned that this was indeed a part of the Grand Canyon and that the dam that released the Colorado River water into the gorge was only a few miles upstream. 
We drove down to the nearby river access at Lees Ferry and quickly got our fill of the frigid 43 degree water. We watched the enormous expedition rafts launch off of the 60 foot long trailers it took to haul them. Groups of excited rafters surrounded us doing final checks of their equipment packed neatly into different colored dry bags. A quick stop at the local fly shop aided me in deciding that a day of fishing here might be disappointing due to the high flow level, and soon we continued our trip towards the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The landscape leading to the park quickly changed from desert to rolling hills covered with tall conifers, broken up by expanses of lush green alpine meadows. Small streams and pools of icy cold snow melt spotted the landscape while areas of near constant shadow still protected snow drifts, remnants of the intense winter. The 40 mile stretch of road leading out to the remote North rim of the canyon was the most lush landscape we had seen since leaving Charlotte!
Even now I find myself unable to describe the vastness of the canyon. Our first view being from the lodge, and later from the overlooks that dotted the canyon rim to either side of it, it was quite obvious that it would be impossible to see the entire expanse of the canyon from any one point. After finding one particularly nice overlook, we rushed back to the car to cook a quick dinner so that we could return in time for the sunset. As we watched the colors wash over the layered rock of the canyon, we found ourselves ill prepared for the temperature and the wind.After finding a campsite outside of the park, we spent the next morning visiting some of the more remote overlooks on the north rim. From cape Royal, we were able to see all the way down to a section of the Colorado River giving the most complete sense of scale possible from the north rim.
As we prepared to leave by enjoying a brief shower near the park campgrounds, we met a nice young couple and their dog who were traveling from Ontario to British Colombia via a number of national parks in the U.S. Brad and Courtney and their collie/sheppard mix- Aurora had uprooted themselves following work across the continent and were making an epic go of it. After discovering that we were both headed to Zion National Park next, we joined forces and caravanned the reasonable 5 hour drive North. 
As we entered Zion, having planned to make an early camp and enjoy some delicious camp food with our new friends, we were forced to pull over just to gawk at the breathtaking canyon that engulfed us. The road into the park twisted for miles through what seemed to be quilted and patterned rock formations, broken up by passing through first, a tunnel drilled through rock solid enough that no re-enforcement was needed, and later through a low ceilinged tunnel over a mile long lit only by the headlights of the cars passing through it. About every quarter mile, a window would appear for only a split second giving the passenger a terrifying glimpse out and down into the dizzying abyss.
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