Some drastic last minute changes to my plans just occurred. The plan was to do 2.5 days in Zion doing Angels Landing and a Narrows thru-hike, then a day in Buckskin Gulch and a day in Bryce.
Well while I was trying to solidify my campsite plans for Buckskin and Bryce this morning I figured I'd throw a Hail Mary and type the North Rim Campground and those dates into the Recreation.gov search bar and to my surprise there was a single site available those 2 nights. Without even thinking about it I booked them. I was shocked because according to what I've read online, people book their sites up to 6 months in advance there because it fills up so quick. How was I able to get 2 nights barely more than a week in advance? A weekend smack in the middle of summer no less? I called the Grand Canyon visitors center to ask them a few questions and I was told I probably lucked out that someone just made a cancellation for those dates.
So now the plan is 2.5 days in Zion doing Angels's Landing and the Narrows thru-hike. Then heading to the North Rim campground to spend 2.5 days on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Any suggestions on the best way to spend my time on the North Rim? The Ranger suggested that the day I arrive after finishing the Narrows, we should drive to the campground, set up camp, then take the Transept Trail 1.5 miles directly from the campground to the Grand Canyon Lodge then take the Bright Angel Point trail half a mile to the lookout. He also suggested we might want to eat dinner at the lodge as well before walking back to our campsite.
Not sure yet how to spend the next 2 days after that. I see that the Kaibab Trail goes down from the north rim all the way to the Colorado which can't be done in a dayhike, but down to Roaring Springs and back would be a suitable 10 miler. From some internet research it looks like the Uncle Jim Trail, Cape Final, and the Widforss Trail would also be good options. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
I'm a little bummed about not seeing Bryce and Buckskin Gulch but that just gives me another excuse to come back to Utah again.