We had one more Point to make (again hopefully) to be totally successful of our intentions for this expedition.
The road in and out to SB Point is not the best road, again very slow going, but the country is so beautiful that it really doesn’t matter. Wildflowers of all kinds were in bloom and the landscape was just perfect.
We headed towards Kanab Point, not knowing what to expect now. We thought we had seen it all. The roads across this section are all on the Kanab Plateau, for the most part flat and easy to drive. There was a variety of small tree (or a large bush?) that was fully in bloom everywhere we drove on the plateau that gave off the most wonderful cinnamon/pine needle smell we have ever experienced. The air was softly scented all day with the blossoms.
Upon arrival at Kanab Point, we were presented a view almost on par with SB Point. The colors of the mesas and rock formations were more vivid and again the Colorado at your feet. In fact, the color of the mesa below us was so vivid it seemed to glow.
Arriving at Kanab Point
That's the Colorado right below with Kanab creek entering from the left.
We had a leisurely lunch under a tree at the edge, looking up the Kanab Creek Canyon, enjoying every minute. Just a couple of pics to get a hint of our views:
Looking up Kanab Canyon and our lunch spot
There doesn’t seem to be any real good campsite in the area (no established fire rings) and since we were getting low on fuel, having emptied the auxiliary tank many days before, we decided to aim to civilization. We thought we would stay the night someplace on the way home, but we ended up driving all the way home.
At the pavement we turned around to see this sign:
As far as people we met out there, except at the Bar 10 Ranch and at Toroweep, we met 3 ATV’ers, the first day close to Mesquite, 2 BLM Rangers and a couple somewhere around Mt. Logan. In six days that’s not bad.
We now know our fuel range for off pavement travel, that our solar shower is worth every penny and we could not do what we did without a quality fridge, our always dependable Waeco. We will always have memories of this journey and actually hope to show it to another in the next year. We told ourselves that the road to Kelly Point is a once in a lifetime experience, but we will make one exception.
One other note, we would not have done this without SPOT. It is too remote to not have some way of communicating with the outside world. It gave us a piece of mind that allowed us to do this without a worry (I am saying this for myself, not Paula).
We had no break downs or failures and all systems performed just the way we had hoped. All in all the greatest experience of our expedition lives.
For planning purposes, be aware that road signage is non-existent in the Strip, except for the two main routes - to the Bar 10 and Toroweep. The BLM Arizona Strip map is at such a scale that it’s very hard reading and I would not want to use it for navigating. There is no fuel anyplace on the Strip only north along the main E/W highway.
PS: For over a year I thought I would not want to do this trip again, but time has proven to cure most ills. I would love to do this again, but I know that we would NEVER find another week with such incredible weather and no winds.
I always seem to forget, but my wife Paula took most all the pics. I say well done.
Gary & Paula
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Originally Posted by Terawanderer
