Cape Royal

Author's Comments

The North Rim is the quieter canyon. Fewer people make the drive, and those who do tend to stay near the lodge, which means the road out to Cape Royal feels almost private even in August. Twenty three miles of pavement winding through ponderosa and meadow, and at the end of it the canyon opens in a way that the South Rim does not quite manage. The view here is wider. You can see further east, further west, and the depth pulls you forward before you have even reached the railing. Angels Window is the obvious subject, and it deserves its reputation. The arch frames a slice of the Colorado River far below, and at the right hour the light comes through clean and warm. But the photograph I keep making at Cape Royal is not the arch. It is the wider one - the long view south at sunset, when the buttes go from rust to violet to something closer to ash, and the shadows pool in the side canyons in a sequence that takes maybe twenty minutes from start to finish. This is the best sunset viewpoint on the North Rim, and the people who make the drive know it. Expect company at golden hour, but not crowds. Bring a wide lens and a longer one both. The wide for the panorama, which honestly resists being contained in any single frame. The longer lens for the buttes themselves, which separate into distinct forms as the light goes sideways and reveals what midday flattens. Stay until the color is gone. The drive back is dark and slow, and worth it.

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