The Arizona Strip, May 9-15 2009

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There have been many trip articles written on the Arizona Strip, but invariably they describe trips into one area and for maybe one or two nights of camping. We wanted to do something more. We wanted to go from the Oak Grove area on the west end to the Kanab Creek Canyon on the east end. Our main criteria was staying as far south as possible and camping at a different Point each night. So in the fall of 2008 I started mapping a route using NatGeo’s TOPO mapping software. There are hundreds of roads in the Strip, so plotting a specific route was essential. Using BLM’s Arizona Strip map as a guide, mapping the route took a couple of months, working in the evenings. The finale route was close to 500 miles. Once our route was established, we really had no idea how long the trip would take so I took a full week’s vacation time.

Prior to this trip I had an auxiliary gas tank installed on my FJ that effectively doubled my travel distance between fuel stops. Even in the wide open areas of southern Nevada, eastern California, i.e. Death Valley and the Mojave Preserve we could not find an off pavement route to truly test the ultimate distance we could go on full tanks. There were always pavement in the way. I wanted a true test. The Arizona Strip provided that test. We did pack 10 extra gallons of fuel on the roof so that we could completely drain our tanks on the dirt and have enough fuel to get out of the Strip.

Our main goal was to visit all of the overlooks to the west of Kanab Creek Canyon. We were hoping to reach, west to east, Twin Points, Kelly Point, Whitmore Rapids overlook, Toroweep, SB Point and Kanab Point.

We invited four other rigs for the expedition, all with the same long range capacity that we had, wanting to keep the group small. In the end only one other vehicle, Bruce and friend, could make it, and they ended leaving us after three days.

After many months, departure day was upon us, Saturday, May 9, 2009. We met up in Las Vegas to travel to Mesquite NV as this was our jumping off point. After fueling and about two miles of pavement driving, we were off pavement, not to see it again until 436 miles later.

Here is the actual route we took:



Day 1:

Saturday, May 9th. 80 miles for the day:

For the first leg to Twin Points, which both Bruce and I had pre-ran late in 2008, we knew what was coming. From Mesquite, there are multiple roads leading down into where we were heading so at each “T” , “Y” or intersection we decided right then and there which way to go. We got as far as Oak Grove that day, as we left late that Saturday. 80 miles the first day. Camp was in a grove of beautiful pine trees, with a bed of pine needles to sleep on. I say this because it is rare for us desert campers to have such a good campsite. We are used to sand or rocks for camping.

A sense of the country heading south from Mesquite:







And our campsite:



And our view the next morning out the top of our tent:



For the entire trip we did not put on our rain fly which gave us outstanding views of the night sky.

It is legal to camp anywhere on BLM land and to have open fires. Oak Grove is a designated campsite with multiple fire rings and is very flat. I am sure it is used mainly as hunting camp in the fall. We had a very relaxing and restful night here.

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Day 2:

Sunday, May 10th: 59 miles for the day:

The next morning we were off to Twin Points. What a beautiful view from there. I will be saying this often as the North Rim, no, all of the Grand Canyon, north or south is spectacular.
Twin Points overlooks the Sunup Plateau. The plateau is riven with many canyons, Surprise, Twin Springs, Burnt, Tincanebitts are just a few, that feed the Colorado during the wet season. The Colorado River is just another canyon far to the south.

Road into Twin Points:





You can see the sign-in stand next to the road.



Even before you get to the Point, there are some spectacular views to the southwest.




But the best are at the Point. Views from Twin Points:




Going in May afforded us of the spring bloom along the entire Strip. More pics later, also.

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Stopped at the Point for lunch:



An old cabin off the road:




No one seems to have any history about who homesteaded this place.

After lunch at Twin Points, we are off to Kelly Point. Much of this trip is doubling back on the roads already traveled. In this case at least 30 miles. Along the Kelly Point road is the Waring cabin and homestead. What a scenic location, we would have homesteaded there also back in the day.





We were in between the cabin and the barn, shown above.



The Waring graves are located very near their beloved homestead.





Found some really small flowers in the field we were parked in.

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Now Bruce had already warned us about this portion of the trip. He, along with others, tried to make Kelly Point in the past, but turned around due to the lateness of the day. He really did not want to do the road again, but we were not going to be deterred. His warnings were spot on. 20 miles in over 4 hours and that’s with many miles of really nice road. The worst road we’ve ever driven. Boulder fields with no discernable tracks to traverse, smaller boulder fields, just plain nasty driving. Several names for the road were suggested: Bone Jarring Road; Teeth Rattlin’ Road; Shake Rattle and Roll. But it is just the Kelly Point Road.





But the drive was worth it. Kelly Point was more beautiful than Twin Points, which we thought could not happen. We set camp at the edge of the cliffs and had a small campfire to enjoy the millions of stars that night. We traveled about 60 miles this day.







And our camping spot could not be beat:





The sunsets were spectacular all week.





Our 2nd day came to a beautiful end.

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Day 3

Monday, May 11, 62 miles for the day:

We slept really well and Monday dawned to a beautiful cloudless day, as they all would be. Many early morning pictures were taken.





Did I mention that the moon was full during our trip?









We broke camp, always with the thought that we had to drive that road one more time. One usually finds that when driving a road twice, the second time seems shorter. Not with this road. It just seemed to go on and on. Again 4+ hours and we were out of there. We were so beat that night that pictures were the last thing on our minds.

Day 4:

Tuesday, May 12th, 36 miles for the day:

Bruce left us this day, heading back to Vegas for pressing business matters. So Paula and I were solo the remainder of the journey. The next stops would be the Bar 10 Ranch and the Whitmore Rapids overlook.

Picture of the FJ on our way to the Bar 10 Ranch:



As we were approaching “Hwy 5” we had some visitors:





I think after that shot, we took off our antenna.

We got to the Bar 10 Ranch around noon and as they didn’t have any tours that day, we were able to discuss the route ahead of us. It so happened that our planned route would have come to a dead end after many miles at the Arkansas ranch, to the east, as the owner has locked his gates and won’t allow anyone to pass through his land. We rerouted our map, refilled our 6 gallon water can, bought some ice cream and headed towards the Whitmore Rapids overlook for that evenings camp. If you’re ever down that way, stop in and visit with Ned and Christin, they are really nice people. Their “ranch” hand, Nathen has a wealth of information about the “ancient ones”. Very interesting visit.

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On our way to the overlook, we detoured into Paw’s (or Pa’s) Pocket. Found a really nice cabin, built in 1945 by the Bundy clan.
Heading into Paw’s Pocket:





Looking down from a ledge, one can see the road leading to the overlook:



The Bundy cabin. The 3rd picture shows most of the back wall where people have signed in and left their marks.









Paw’s Pocket was a site where winter rains and snow melt were stored for summer use. At least one small dam has been built and still remains to hold the water.







Continued:

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At Whitmore overlook we found above 90° temperatures. We set up our shade/wind structure for the one and only time on the trip. It was well worth bringing for just one use. The views are, again spectacular, as we are about 700 feet directly above the river. And one of the few places that there is a trail to the river. It is also the only spot on our trip that the heat was so intense. The overlook is at 3000 feet and all the other campsites were in the 6,000 foot range, and the temperatures were very nice. Had a very warm nights sleep, with warm winds blowing intermittently, and the stars fairly sitting on the earth.

View of our campsite:



The overlook is not the best of campsite, very exposed and barren. A better place would be on the road to Paw’s Pocket. A very nice plus about the campsite though is the sundown over the Grand Canyon.








Day 5:

Wednesday, May13th, 52 miles for the day:

We have camped here before and most mornings you are awakened by several of these:



The Bar 10 Ranch offers rafting tours of the Colorado River and helicopters ferry the rafters down to the river fairly close to the campsite. You can stand on the edge and watch them land far down below.

By the time we were packed up to head out, it was sweltering again and we were glad to be out of the heat.

We headed north on the Mt. Trumbull road and found another all lava rock road. Again very slow travel.

We were constantly afforded nature’s beauty with flowers everywhere:

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Once out of the rock, we entered a high desert pine forest with nice soft dirt roads. The elevation was 7000 + feet, and we took a short detour to check out the view above Potato Valley.




Next stop was Toroweep Campgrounds.
Toroweep is THE tourist stop on the north rim (excepting Kaibab). Very good road until you actually reach the NP boundary line, then the road is unimproved, for the most part. We drove through very rutted roads that were by now full of silt, and finally reached a very nice campground and again spectacular scenery. The campsites are first come, first serve. We were early in the season, so we had a few to pick from. The group campsite I think requires reservations.






Again the moon was with us. Every night was special on this trip.



We went to sleep very contented and wondering what the following days would hold.



Day 6:

Thursday, May 14th, 67 miles for the day:

We’re getting our “breaking camp” routine down pretty good. And we are on the road at 8:30am. We did stop at the Overlook. And of course any pictures you have seen of this overlook does not do it justice. Views are vertical drops to the river.







We enjoyed our short stay, but had to get back on the road.

On the Kanab Plateau, we drove through miles of this:



The scent from these plants was amazing. At least a couple/three hours of driving with the wonderful aroma.

Our next destination was SB Point, again hopefully. We have found roads that appear on the BLM map and our TOPO map closed at the NP boundary line. Sometimes you will travel several miles and all of a sudden there’s a fence with downed trees as a barricade. There’s no notice at the start of the road as to the closure, so we just turn around and backtrack.
The roads weren’t too bad and after trying a couple of routes, we found the open road to SB Point.



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Holy cow, this Point puts all of the other views on the back burner. Incredible, very special, etc. etc. At your feet is the Colorado, with Tuckup, Willow, Fern Glen, Beaver, National and other Canyons laid out before you. There’s The Dome and The Cork right there. There’s the Yumtheska, Sinyella and Matkatamiba Plateaus to enjoy. The views are for miles up and down river. As pictures cannot give the full impact of an area, words definitely cannot describe the beauty of this Point.
We immediately got out of our rig and went for a hike to the actual point to soak it all in. We set camp later to the most breathtaking campsite of all. A nice temperate evening, no wind all night and the stars sitting on top of our tent. At one point we both woke up and Paula wondered about a light across the canyon. After just a few minutes, we realized it was the moon rising. We watched and marveled that we both awoke at this very special show.

SB Point:













Another "perfect" campsite:



And then sunset:

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Day 7:

Friday, May 15th, 80 miles to pavement.

We woke at 5am for the morning light and hiked to the point again. We really didn’t want to leave. We’ve got to become better photographers to capture what we see.
Just a couple of the am pics:









Our last day