Gone, But Not Forgotten

Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim (1928 – 2025)

Three Strikes, Lightning and Rainbow from Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon North Rim

Autumn Light, Grand Canyon North Rim

Rainbow Above Marble Canyon, Roosevelt Point, Grand Canyon North Rim

Morning Glory, Point Imperial Sunstar, Grand Canyon

Milky Way and SpaceX Falcon 9, Wotan’s Throne, Grand Canyon

The images I share in this post were all captured on the North Rim of Grand Canyon, a place I’ve visited and photographed more times than I can count. And while Grand Canyon Lodge is no more, the North Rim will recover, thrive, and ultimately outlast us all.

Yesterday I woke to the devastating news that Grand Canyon Lodge on the canyon’s North Rim had been destroyed by a wildfire. I’d been monitoring last week’s evacuation of the North Rim, but since that evacuation was for a fire burning more than 50 miles away and threatening to close the only exit, my first reaction was denial—surely someone misinterpreted those earlier evacuation reports. But it soon became clear that the loss was real.

Unfortunately, with a workshop scheduled on the North Rim in less than a month, my grief was preempted by the need to save my workshop. That took 24 hours, but I was ultimately able to replace my lost North Rim nights with two more nights on the South Rim, so now I’m back to dealing with this sense of great loss.

As news of the fire trickled in, and I was able to view maps of its destruction, the scope of the disaster became clear: gone are the cabins my workshop groups and I have stayed in every (non-pandemic) summer since 2013; gone is the historic, beautiful main lodge building, with its exquisite 2-story picture-window views into the canyon that served as the backdrop for my “office” (where I wrote many a blog); gone is my favorite National Park Service restaurant, which shared those same views; gone is (much of) the beautiful evergreen and aspen forest that makes the North Rim experience feel so special; gone are the Visitor Center and funky little shops that always seem to convince me I need another Grand Canyon T-shirt or hat; gone is the “deli” that somehow always seemed to be out of my first choice, yet each time was somehow forgivable, thanks to its friendly, mostly international, staff; gone are the two outside view decks where I’ve captured more lightning than any other location. And so much more.

I fully acknowledge that for views alone, the South Rim has it over the North Rim. But the views on the North Rim quite spectacular in their own right, and since they don’t duplicate the South Rim’s, to fully appreciate the Grand Canyon expansive magnificence, you really need to visit both rims. For me, it’s the entire North Rim experience that distinguishes it, and makes the North Rim the favorite of the two rims for the majority of my workshop students.

I do love the South Rim views, but unfairly resent sharing them with so many others. So the North Rim is where I recharge from, or mentally prepare for, the South Rim and its teeming tourists. On the North Rim, it’s actually possible to visit any of its vistas and be the only person there—not every time, or even most times, but frequently enough to feel hopeful each time I arrive. And, while the only compelling reason to be outside on the South Rim requires a view of the canyon, on the North Rim, with its open meadows sprinkled with wildflowers and bounded by forests of pine and aspen, anywhere outside feels special.

Of course Grand Canyon Lodge is not the entire North Rim, but it is the hub of the experience there. At least when I completed my final Grand Canyon raft trip this May, I had full knowledge going in that this would be my last time, enabling me to say a proper goodbye. To one minute be excited about returning in just a month, and the next minute know it could be a very long time before I return, and that when I do return, the North Rim won’t be the place I grew to love so much, is something I’ll struggle with for a while.

I know I’m just one of many feeling a loss today. For a little perspective, losing some buildings, and access to the North Rim for a year or two, can’t compare to the tragedy of human loss following the Texas floods. But both events are a reminder that Mother Nature is in always in charge, and humans are just borrowing space. Wildfires are an essential natural process from which Grand Canyon will ultimately benefit. While we all may be feeling a profound sense of personal loss right now, Grand Canyon will endure as grandly as ever.

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The Grand Canyon North Rim Experience

Last Light, Cape Royal, Grand Canyon

Surprise Rainbow, Point Imperial, Grand Canyon

Color and Light, Grand Canyon Lightning, Bright Angel Point

Touch the Sky, Roosevelt Point Rainbow, Grand Canyon

Big Sun, Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon

Autumn Light, Grand Canyon North Rim

Electric Night, Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Direct Hit, South Rim Lightning Strike, Grand Canyon Lodge

Electric Downpour, Point Imperial Lightning, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Lightning Strike, Brahma Temple, Grand Canyon

Fire in the Hole, Grand Canyon Lightning

Rainbow Above Marble Canyon, Roosevelt Point, Grand Canyon North Rim

Milky Way and Wotan’s Throne, Cape Royal, Grand Canyon

Forest Wildflowers, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Heaven Sent, Monsoon Rainbow, Vista Encantada, Grand Canyon North Rim

Rainbow at Dusk, Point Imperial, Grand Canyon

Morning Glory, Point Imperial Sunstar, Grand Canyon

Wildflowers and Aspen, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Three Strikes, Lightning and Rainbow from Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon North Rim

Last Light, Wotan’s Throne, Cape Royal, Grand Canyon

Lightning Explosion, Oza Butte, Grand Canyon North Rim

Electric Rainbow, Walhalla Overlook, Grand Canyon

Bent, Grand Canyon Lightning

Forked Lightning, Point Imperial, Grand Canyon

Hand of God, Forked Lightning, Grand Canyon

Lightning Shadow, Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim