TRAVEL TALES:Greener on the other side

I will bet that 99% of those who read this have been to the Grand Canyon. I also suspect that the overwhelming majority of you have been to the South Rim, which gets 5 million visitors a year. The North Rim gets only a half a million visitors each year.

This fall, after school started and the number of visitors theoretically declined, we wanted to take a Southwest road trip — one that would include both rims of the Grand Canyon. We had a lovely visit to the South Rim and even found a parking place among all the tour buses. We managed to elbow our way through the hordes of tourists in most places to see the views, which are spectacular.

But the North Rim, about five hours away by car, was an unexpected delight. The drive among the pines was more interesting than the one through the desert, and a considerable amount of rain cleaned the air.

The view from the edge of the canyon at Bright Angel Point was lovely and quite different from that at the South Rim. The lighting is very different, which enhances the view. The geology is somewhat more dramatic, with more vegetation. The facilities seem to be in better shape than those at the South Rim, and you don’t need to take a shuttle! Housing facilities are very nice and inexpensive, but limited. Snow is a real possibility by mid-October, and the facilities are closed then, so plan accordingly. The North Rim is more than 500 miles from here — an ambitious drive — so you may wish to break up the trip by stopping in Las Vegas or St. George, Utah.

When you’ve had your fill of the Grand Canyon, there are also many opportunities for additional fun close by. How about seeing the California condors that have been released to the wild at nearby Vermillion Cliffs? If you are so inclined, you can fish for trout at Lee’s Ferry, below Glen Canyon Dam, or for striped bass on Lake Powell.

If that isn’t enough fun, consider that Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Bryce Canyon, and Zion are just a short hop away. But that’s another story.

lives in Corona del Mar.