Northern Arizona and Southern Utah; Part 3 - May 2017

Continues from Part 2; House Rock Valley, AZ; Cottonwood Canyon, UT; Kodachrome State Park, UT; and Skutumpah Road, UT.

Part 3
Crazy Jug Point, Kaibab National Forest
North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park
Tater Ridge, Kaibab National Forest

Saturday, May 20, 2017 (continued)

Remember, you can click on any photo for a larger version.

Fredonia

I stopped briefly in Fredonia at the Forest Service District Office. I suspected they'd be closed on Saturday, but hoped there would be a map to look at and maybe some brochures available. Indeed they were closed, but the lobby was open with a Kaibab NF map on the wall behind glass, plus a large selection of free brochures and a Motor Vehicle Use Map for the district.

I was heading to Crazy Jug Point in the Kaibab National Forest that my friend Bob had recommended; Dawn had camped near there, too. It looked on the NF map that taking FR-22 out of Fredonia would be the most direct way there, however, the National Forest map also seemed to show that 22 didn't go all the way through - there was a discontinuity, so instead I followed Alt-89 to Jacob Lake as the brochure which gave directions to my destination started those direction from the visitor center there.

Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center

When I got to Jacob Lake it turned out that the Kaibab Plateau visitor center was indeed open on Saturday. Apparently this facility, operated both by the National Forest and the Grand Canyon Association is open daily due to the large number of visitors headed to the forest and the North Rim. It closes at 5pm, local time, so I just made it.

I bought the official NF map there (which was $15 rather than the ususal $10, but larger than most other NF maps). I discussed getting to Crazy Jug Point with the nice lady at the counter and pointed out that the map didn't show FR-22 as going all the way through. She was surprised as she knew it did. Turns out that is a error on the map printing. You can drive on 22 all the way from Fredonia to the Grand Canyon highway 67 near the Kaibab Lodge.

Crazy Jug Point, Kaibab Plateau

In any case, I set off from the VC via FR-461 & 462, following the Scenic Viewpoints brochure. I had to lose lots of elevation that I had recently gained on the main highway climbing up onto the plateau, so if coming from the west, FR-22 is the best way in and is actually paved part of the way.

Traveling down 22 you get a sense for just how large the Kaibab NF is - and this is just the northern part. FR-22 is gravel and in very good shape. After turning off 22 onto FR-425 the road is narrower and bumpier, but still in very good conditon. Another junction and the road, FR-292, is smaller, still. Then the last junction, take FR-292B to the point. It helped having a map as there was not a directional sign at every junction.

Early evening view to the southeast (iPhone photo).

From the same location as the previous photo, just pointed a little to the right (iPhone photo).

At last, Crazy Jug Point, and pretty late in the evening, too. I was glad to get here after a long day of driving, but I wasn't complaining as it had been an interesting drive. There is one dispersed style campsite at the point and I pulled into it. It is in the center of the turn-around loop and is surrounded by piñons.

Campsite in the middle of the cul-de-sac is big enough for a couple vehicles and tents.

I was still figuring out where exactly to position my camper, when a soft-top jeep blaring rock music showed up and stopped at the point parking area. This couple with their enormous, free ranging dog were looking for a place to canyoneer. The fellow asked if I was camping there that night. I said "yes." He replied that they'd look elsewhere then, to my great relief. I suggested Monument Point, though I admitted that I knew nothing about it, but had seen the sign coming in. I hoped they'd land far enough away I wouldn't hear their loud music, which thankfully seemed to be the case.

Looking toward the southeast as the sun sinks.

I'm guessing that rock formation in the foreground is the Crazy Jug.

A couple other vehicles came by in the evening to look at the view. They looked like hunters with their beat-up trucks and full cammo attire. When they finally left I had the place to myself. There were no clouds to augment the sunset, but the colors in the darkening sky were beautiful.

The sitting sun through the trees.

My campsite in the last rays of the sun.

Sunday, May 21

Crazy Jug Point (continued)

The canyon was still in shadow, but this piñon at the point was lit by the rising sun.

I was up at dawn to see if there were good photo opportunities. Not so much at dawn, but as the morning progressed I kept snapping. It was a beautiful morning.

Morning view toward the west.

Pretty phlox flowers at my feet.

Southwest view framed by the trees.

You can't see off the rim from the campsite or parking area, so I carried my chair a little ways down the trail to the point so I could sit and admire the view. I also tried to photograph the many birds that were singing and flitting around - with minimal success.

The best bird photo of the morning - not a great image, but a great memory.

One of the surprises, is that there was cell service on the point - if I stood in a certain place facing a certain way. Perhaps the tower was on the south side. In any case it allowed me to have a nice conversation with a friend and gloat about my view.

A nearly 180º panorama toward the west from the trail to the point.

I broke camp and reversed course back to FR-22. There were smaller roads that looked like they might be more direct, but the first one I saw looked narrow and rough. I stopped to say good morning to a gentleman with a camera standing beside his small expedition vehicle emblazoned with "Switzerland" across the front. He was totally enraptured by the area. He said the national forest was larger than the whole of Switzerland. A statement that is hyperbole, but I understood the feeling. The area feels huge! Looking it up later, North Kaibab NF is just over 1000 square miles. They were headed to Crazy Jug Point.

I stopped to have lunch in a dispersed site before reaching FR-22. FYI, it seems there are dispersed sites sprinkled around the side roads, but none directly beside 22. There are many roads and scenic points to explore around the Kaibab Plateau. Those will wait for another trip as I was headed to the North Rim. FR-22 ends at Highway 67, the Grand Canyon Highway. I turned south on the pavement.

Grand Canyon National Park

I drove to the practical end of the road and found a spot in the parking lot. I stopped in at the visitor center. I wanted to enquire about the road to Point Sublime. I'd heard it was gorgeous, and it was a route in my Arizona 4-Wheel-Drive guide book.  The book said you could get a permit to camp there, though everything else I'd read stated in no uncertain terms that there was no dispersed camping anywhere in the the national park.

The young ranger at the counter told me the condition of the road to Point Sublime was "nasty." She said they had not had the opportunity to clear the deadfalls from the road yet (The North Rim had only been open 1 week.) She said the fire crew usually did that task, but they were no longer permanently assigned to the park. She didn't know when the road would be cleared. I asked about camping. She said that the Back Country Office did, in fact, issue camping permits for Point Sublime and gave me the phone number so I could check with them later in the year. Their facility was just back up the road.

The view from Bright Angel Point.

The view looking just to the east side from the point.

I walked down the paved trail to Bright Angel Point. The North Rim doesn't get anywhere near the number of visitors as the South Rim, but there were still plenty with a constant parade along the trail to the point.

The point overlook from the rocks just above it.

Panoramic view from Bright Angel Point.

The view from the trail and the point was magnificent, but understand, it's not as spectacular or breathtaking as the views from the South Rim. The canyon is much broader, if that's the right term, on the south side. The Colorado River cannot even be glimpsed from Bright Angel Point. That didn't stop me from taking lots of photos, none of which really capture the space.

Cape Royal View

I returned to my truck and drove north to the junction that would take me to the eastern viewpoints of the North Rim. I drove first to Cape Royal and took photos there and at Angels Window. I could at last see a piece of the Colorado River in the distance. I think the views from here are more beautiful than at Bright Angel Point, but maybe that's just me.

Another Cape Royal view. If you look carefully you can see the river, middle left.

Another Cape Royal view.

Looking more to the east with the river, middle right.

Thor Temple as seen from Cape Royal.

Another Cape Royal view.

Angels Window at Cape Royal.

A 180º panorama from the top of the Angels Window formation.

I drove back up the road and this time took the turn-off to Point Imperial. This viewpoint looks toward the east. Unfortunately, by this time of the afternoon the clouds that had been building all day really began to negatively affect the light. I guess I'm just not skilled enough to turn those conditions into exciting photos.

This is probably the best of the photos I attempted at Point Imperial.

A panorama from Point Imperial.

It felt like it was getting late in the day and I needed to find a place to camp for the night. I'd noticed in that same Arizona 4-Wheel-Drive guide book a route that they marked easy* that would lead east from highway 67, up around the north side of the Saddle Mountain Wilderness, then down off the plateau meeting up with the Buffalo Ranch Road. From there I could check out the Buck Farm Overlook along the Colorado River.

*I had learned the hard way that what this book rated "easy" (Orderville Canyon Road) wasn't necessarily so.

I didn't really want to do the whole drive that day (and am so glad I didn't attempt to do so.) The book mentioned a side road that had beautiful dispersed campsites, so that was my plan.

Kaibab National Forest, Tater Ridge

The turn-off of 67 to the gravel road, FR-213, is halfway between milemarkers 601 and 602. A little more than 2 miles along is a right turn onto FR-221. This narrow dirt road has a few bumpy spots and a few pinch points where deadfalls had been cut, but not removed from the full width of the road. There are a few nice dispersed campsites, but continue on.

My campsite among the Ponderosa pines with a great view.

I found a wonderful spot with a fabulous view east off the plateau 5 miles from the pavement. There would be room for several campers and the ground was suitable for tents, too. Although I was not far from the ridge line, the tall Ponderosa pines blocked the breeze. The cloud cover and the haze in the distance was not conducive to photography, but I kept trying to capture the canyon of the Colorado River down on the plain.

View from near my campsite of the southern section of Marble Canyon.
I would head that direction the next day.

Monday, May 22

Kaibab NF (continued)

One of the aspen groves along FR-213

I leisurely broke camp and drove back to FR-213 where I turned right. The road was smooth and passed through Aspen groves. After 4 or 5 miles I came to a small spur at the top of the ridge where one could camp if the wind was not strong, though there were trees, they wouldn't block the wind very much.

Then a very steep section of rocky switchbacks began. Some of the rocks were anchored and quite big. It was necessary to ease slowly over those. In other areas the rocks were baseball sized and loose. As I drove down I was thinking how difficult it would be to be trying to drive up. I didn't pause to measure, but I bet I lost about a thousand feet in elevation (good guess, according to Google Earth).

At the bottom, the road 'T's into FR-220. The guide book said to take a right. Left is a connection to the Buffalo Ranch TR #6 and is rated "moderate." To my chagrin, at the bottom of those switchbacks was a orange-diamond Road Closed sign. It sat to the right of 220, between it and where I'd just come down - a rather ambiguous placement. I wasn't sure if it referred to the tricky stretch I'd just done or the unknown road I was planning to drive, or even how recent it was.

I did not want to drive back up what I'd just descended, so I did what I'd advise anyone else not to do, I took the right turn and drove on. The road was rough and rocky. There were more switchback descents. I was paranoid that I'd get to the bottom of a gully and there would be a washout. On occasion I'd see tire tracks that looked like they might have been left by a road maintenance truck, such as a grader or front loader. My hope was that if indeed this road had been closed, that the truck ahead was clearing the way.

Consequently, I didn't enjoy this section as much as if I'd been assured passage. I knew if worst came to worst, I could reverse course. That would not be fun, but I didn't feel in peril. There was one short section, climbing steeply out of a gully, that looked bad enough that I put the truck in 4-wheel-LOW to climb out. There was only that one small section that required LOW, though I used 4-wheel-drive in many places just for traction, not that I was afraid of getting stuck.

East Side Game Road

I think that's Tater Ridge behind me (to the left) from whence I came.

The canyon that ran next to this section of road.

After what seemed a long time, and more loss of elevation, I came out on a ridge. The road ran along the side of a canyon. According to my navigation app this road is called the East Side Game Trail. I felt confident enough along this section to finally stop and take a few photos. As I continued, the road descended even farther onto the plain below.

The last section of road on the ridge before it drops down.
I still wasn't 100% sure if the road was open all the way down, but I was feeling better.

I was very relieved when I reached Buffalo Ranch Road, county 8910, which was wide and looked well traveled. By this time I felt I'd lost another 2000 feet. According to Google Earth (which I consulted while writing this post) I'd camped at 8580 feet; the top of the first switchbacks were about 8300'; and the junction with the county road was at 5565'. So yep, I was now 3000 feet lower than where I woke up that morning. I'd gone from fir & pine, though piñon & juniper, to sagebrush and grasses.

NOTE: the route I just took off the Kaibab Plateau is not for the faint of heart or for those without a high-clearance vehicle and the skills to drive it. That said, the section from the Grand Canyon Highway on 213 and 221 was readily accessible and I highly recommend my camping spot. A vehicle wider than a standard pickup truck would not have been able to drive between the sections of the fallen trees, but presumably later in the season the forest service would have come back and done a better job of clearing those.

That concludes my time on the Kaibab Plateau. My journey continues in Part 4 where I explore the Buck Farm Overlook and then Navajo National Park on my way home.

Great Western Trail - Orderville Canyon, Arizona to Utah

May 20 and 21, 2013

After the Overland Expo I had planned to take about a week to do a scenic drive back to New Mexico. I hadn't visited much of northern Arizona or southern Utah before and thought it was high time to remedy that situation. The rough plan was up US89 and US89-A through Jacob Lake to Bryce Canyon to visit a friend who is a Ranger there. Then a quick scoot across Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument gathering info for a longer, return visit. Camping at Capitol Reef NP, Natural Bridges, Muley Point, and then it would be about time to be home. Oh, the best laid plans... Future blog posts will cover these events, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sort of at the last moment on Monday I thought it would be a fun adventure to take a backroad north from Jacob Lake to Utah instead of following the paved highway the entire way. I had seen the "Orderville Canyon" trail in the Guide to Arizona Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trail book, by Charles A. Wells and Matt Peterson. The book said, "Easy. Mostly graded road with one steep hill. Suitable for stock 4WD SUV's with high clearance.... Time: 2 to 3 hours." Hey, that sounded ideal - a beautiful backcountry drive, maybe with a chance to practice some of the skills I'd picked up at the Expo, too. Sign me up.

The Great Western Trail is a unique corridor of braided and paralleling trails for both motorized and non-motorized users. The trail system traverses 4,455 miles through Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. It incorporates stunning desert and canyon landscapes, plateaus, woodlands, dense forests and alpine meadows. It links 18 National Forests, Tribal, State and BLM administered lands and encompasses the most diverse vegetation, topography and wildlife in the western United States.

I did my due diligence and stopped at the Kaibab National Forest Ranger Station in Jacob Lake to check on my route. The woman at the information desk was familiar with the route (and the guide book in my hands to the point of even recognizing it was a new edition) and cautioned me that the whole middle section was no longer maintained, but since I had a high clearance 4WD, and as long as I was careful, I shouldn't have any problem.

Sign announcing the start of this leg of the Great Western Trail.

I drove the 3.2 miles east from Jacob Lake on the highway and found the turn-off to FS 257. It was 3pm, but as it was late spring I had plenty of light left I figured. Anyway, the plan was to find a nice dispersed campsite along the way and complete my drive to Bryce in the morning.

The beginning of the GWT east of Jacob Lake at US-89, look north, the direction of travel.

The trail follows the ridge of the Kaibab Plateau populated with tall Ponderosa Pines through which the roads meandered. There are numerous dispersed camping sites in the first few miles, many of them large enough for sizable trailers.

Grass and tall trees for the first several miles of this trail.

One tricky aspect of this route is that there are numerous other forest roads intersecting this one. The guide book gives directions for each turn or junction with milage, but even better, the Forest Service (and BLM) have erected markers with the Great Western Trail icon pointing the way.

Various groups have also erected informational signs along the trail. These give those who pause to read a bit of the history of the trail and the settlers who moved in, such as the Mormon group who established Orderville and set up a dairy in this canyon. (In this section the signs were placed by the Arizona State Parks Off-Highway Vehicle Fund. Sorry, I didn't pause to photograph these signs.)

There were wild flowers blooming. Quite lovely.

The elevation of the plateau drops rapidly. Five miles in, the big trees are thinning in favor of smaller trees and plants of lower heights. By 10 miles instead of grass and pine needles along the ground one finds profuse growths of sage and other high-desert plants, though there are still pines lining the wide canyon walls.

Lark Sparrow

It was interesting to me to note that in some sections, between junctions, there was evidence of vehicles passing not that long before I came along. In other sections my tracks were the first since the last rain - which had to be some time past.

Once out of the big trees I was into Piñon and Juniper forest. The canyon would narrow with rocky walls, then would widen out showing evidence of old corrals and not so old cattle grazing. Camping spots were becoming few and far between, in fact in most places there was not even any way to get out of the roadbed.

Sure enough the road was not maintained in this area, though rocky and heavily rutted in sections, it presented no obstacle. It did require attention to where I placed my wheels, so there are no photos from this fairly long section.

Somewhere along here I began to realize traversing this trail would take longer than the 2 - 3 hours as published. I decided I wouldn't stop until I had travelled farther along, as I wanted to get into Bryce Canyon the next day early enough to be sure to get a camp site.

The road became rougher, though still through interesting territory. I was on the lower sections of the plateau, but had not reached "the hill." This feature, mentioned in my quote, above, from the guidebook carried the admonition on the map itself, "Toughest section; use 4-low going down." There was also a camera icon just before the hill on the map, promising a great view. The terrain was becoming more open and arid, as the road twisted, rose and fell. Then it opened up and I knew I was there - mile19.4, the steep hill.

View of the southern flank of Utah from the edge of the Kaibab Plateau (the hill.) View larger image

After taking some photos, I had hearty snack as the day was getting long and my energy was getting low... and I suspected I'd need some energy soon. I put the truck in 4WD-Low and started easing down the steep, rocky road. Keeping in mind what the Land Rover drivers continuously said, "as slow as possible; as fast as necessary."

That slow as possible quickly became a stop as there was an intimidating rock ledge the width of the road with an abrupt drop-off on the low side. The drop was about a foot on the driver's side and a somewhat less abrupt 8 to 10 inches on the passenger side.

This is where "ego" gets us into trouble, I can almost hear Fred Monsees, the Land Rover driver explain in his "how things get broken" class! I had to figure a way down or turn around and drive the now 3 hours back to US89. When I'd read the trail classifications in the guidebook, the Moderate rated trails had been described as "may require some rock stacking." I decided that this Easy trail had become Moderate since the book was written.

I decided to try rock-stacking. It took me a while to build two ramps off the ledge and to remove the rear steps from my hitch receiver so they wouldn't drag. I should have taken photos, but I was totally focused on the task at hand. Started the truck up and eased down my ramps, careful not to try and stop while on the ramps lest the rocks shift under me. Success! The only things that scrapped were my mud flaps. I stuck the steps back on and proceeded hoping that was the worst part... until I came to the next ledge.

This one wasn't as bad and I could put one wheel on the side of the track, so only had to build one rock ramp (and remove my steps and do a little dead limb trimming.) After I cleared this ledge and worked my way down, the shadows were getting long and finding holes to avoid a little more difficult. But no more rock stacking required. Whew!

It seemed like it took forever to get down that hill, but looking back at my GPS log, it only took about 40 minutes total. OK, so maybe you guys in your big trucks, Jeeps or FJs could have just driven straight down, but newbie me in my heavily loaded, brand-new, stock 4x4 Tacoma decided not to dent or break anything this time.

About a mile after the hill, with the road a fairly smooth "thoroughfare"  I found a little spur off the road, that lead nowhere, to camp. I nestled in among the Junipers, off the "main" road. Not that I thought anyone would be coming down that road in the dark in a million years.

My cozy campsite with the last rays of the sun lighting the tops of the Juniper.

I even had time to take a short walk before dark. I saw some game trails, but no game. I had a restful night.

The roads were much better in the morning, though I confess to taking one wrong turn. I figured it out quickly, backtracked and got back on the trail.

You can see the Utah escarpments along the horizon.

I knew I was on the right trail once I saw the identical sign as was pictured in the guidebook.

I've made it to Utah all in one piece.

Climbing up to US-89 the views were still spectacular.

Click to view larger image.

The roads in Utah were well maintained and I touched 36 m.p.h. before good sense returned to me. The route brought me out onto the highway about 20 miles east of Kanab.

All in all, a good adventure with truck and driver surviving with nothing more than a few scratches on the skin. The 2 - 3 hour trail took me 5-1/2 hours, not counting camp time. I talked to a fellow a few days later about this. He uses a different author's guidebook, but noted it usually took him about twice the time listed in the book, so I guess this is endemic to the trade.

Thanks for reading along.

Here is a track map and profile taken from my GPS, should you be interested. I do not recommend taking this route with only my map as a guide. The red pin, "Camp GWT", marks my campsite; the other pin marks the origin.

You can see the steep hill at about 20 miles.

p.s., I phoned Matt Peterson of FunTreks.com, one of the authors of the guidebook to see if he was interested in a trail condition update. He was, as he said it had been two or three years since they'd last driven it. Seems like a good guy. He said to keep watching the site as they will be coming out with a phone app of their own onto which you can load tracks (for off-grid use) for the trails in their books. He said the current scheme using a third-party app hadn't been satisfactory. They also sell data cards that plug into various brands of vehicle navigation devices and show the routes and waypoints.