Car camping via plane: Cave Creek wanderings, Toroweap and a few AZ strip points.

[gm13]

I've been wanting to get back to the SW since my first backpacking trips to the Grand Canyon and Canyonlands twenty years ago . Living 2900 miles away in Maine presents a few logistical problems for vehicle based overland travel to the relatively remote areas of the Arizona strip, especially when there isn't time to drive our own truck-yet.

The first order of business was the “where”. Maps were ordered and many evenings were spent in their perusal, plotting routes and trying to keep it realistic(hard to do) for our limited time of 8 days. That, combined with trip reports and PM's from the Four corners folks, was really helpful, Toroweap was a must go, my wife and I knew that much. Snake Gulch and another pictograph site, along with a couple of points along the Rim, Crazy Jug and its neighbors- Fence, N Timp etc were possibilities within the North Kaibab NF and would be based on accessibility, given weather conditions. Further N If time allowed, to White Pocket.



Second was getting some essential vehicle gear out there. ARB tire repair kit, Viair 300P compressor, tow strap, Norlund Guide saw. The shovel and spare gas can would have to wait. Other weighty items included the tent, a Marmot Limelight, our sleeping bags/ Thermarests, sunshower, North Face day pack with hydration bladder, fanny pack and cook set etc.Given the possible range of temperatures from freezing into the 80's, cold weather clothing needed to get stuffed in somewhere. And because I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at an influential age and recently read all 26 pages of “Scariest/Freaky moments when Camping or Offroad” in Fireside Chat, I packed my 1911 in its field holster locked up in a Pelican. Between the two bags to schlepp this stuff, one was at a near limit of 49.5lbs the other was over at 50.5, they let us slide, gracious of United airlines after spending $230 for our luggage to go on backcountry adventure with us.

The “unknown” element was what type of vehicle we could get a hold of and what we could get away with putting it through. This was by far the most difficult part of the planning. At least three hours spent talking to rental companies and their labyrinthian recordings with little or no information at the end of them. A representative from Alamo finally said “We realize the geography of Arizona necessitates, at times, going off pavement.” (Later I find this statement directly contradicted in the fine print of the rental agreement, oops) Sold..err.. rented, but was it four wheel drive? Sure, they have SUV's but almost all were 2wd. It was confirmed by a rep on the ground at Alamo Sky Harbor, Phoenix(awfully hard to get a hold of) that they had 4X4 with low range, not just AWD in their fleet but there was no guarantee that one would be available when we showed up. We booked a Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar and crossed our fingers.

Thursday April 12 depart Portland, ME, arrive at Phoenix SH airport around 11:30pm and a meager supply of vehicles to choose from in the Alamo lot. Reps looking at computers don't seem to have accurate info as to what is outside their door so I go take a look. Best I can find is a Jeep Compass in 4WD, too small really and low clearance, I cringe a bit when my wife Sally mentions the clearance part to the representative... We take it with hopes of swapping it out Friday for better selection, as that's a big return day. Off to Hospitality Suites in Scottsdale, which worked out great, decent room, price and if you're around, free drinks by the pool from 4:30-6:30, we weren't.

Friday we head out to the REI in Tempe to grab fuel canisters for the Pocket Rocket, books, another map(never enough maps!) some freeze dried food etc. Back to Alamo to snare one of these:

Jeep Liberty with a Trail Rated Badge

My 2 cents for a rental there is to forgo relying on what the rep tells you. Go early or on a Friday, stroll through the lot, grab the key for what you want and bring it to the desk. That whole ordeal was a wee bit frustrating but it was worth getting something closer to what we needed.

The weekend has Sally visiting friends in Carefree at the Boulders resort. I make forays out Cave Creek /Bloody Basin road but forgo camping out there as things still want to be picked up—camp chairs, shovel, gas can and a headlamp (TSA or united gleeped 2 good lights from our luggage) Saturday morning finds me at the Cave Creek Coffee Co. Really liked that place. Seems to be hot with the dual sport riders. Good coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Off to see what this road is about.
The Boulders--not a bad "base camp" I guess



Saturday morning before heading out this guy sauntered across the patio and had a seat nearby:


Along Cave Creek road, varied weather with a great sky which brought rain, snow, hail and sun in moderate doses.

From 285



A lot in bloom, a Claret Cup cacti I believe:

I love this landscape, great to stop and walk up to any rock outcrop and have a look around, Yucca seem happy too.

Amazing patterns:

Lunch stop. Windy means cooking in the truck on the baffle-less pocket rocket. I don't recommend the Whole foods brand mac and cheese, nor camping out of suitcases. Miss my aluminum boxes.

Evening Primrose, out Northeast ours are yellow.

Mariposa Lily

Is it called Bloody Basin due to this color?





Couldn't get enough of this sky


I was hoping the Agua Fria river was low given the little rain that's been had, and that crossing wouldn't present a problem, it didn't. Funny to see an interstate marker out here towards the end:


Spent abut 6 hours making the trip to I-17 from Cave Creek including hiking up a few hills.
More "provisioning" on the way back to base camp, concluding day one off some pavement.
Beautiful area. More on the way...

[Clem]

Great inspiration to get out and go.

Thanks for sharing,

Clem

[gm13]

Sunday morning found me once again at the Cave Creek Coffee Co. It was loaded with more dual sports and their riders than yesterday. Downed another Skoolhouse sandwhich and coffee while perusing the gazetteer for an alternate route to Sheep Bridge as I didn't have the time to go back out Cave Creek/ 269. I was looking at the N Horseshoe Dam rd. Seemed to me a road could be picked up from before the dam area then across Mullen Mesa and by Chalk mountain over Ister flat to the river. So I gave it a go.
Along the way:

Sacred Datura, Don Jaun's ally for you Casteneda fans.

Horseshoe Reservoir, painfully low it seems. The bottom of the boat ramp was probably 100' from water. That's a jeep Cherokee to the left down by the "water".

Passed 2 guys in a wrangler and asked about the passage to Sheep Bridge, was told that there are boulders across the main route(there were, at least I found boulders across what I thought was the route) and that the dam just released some water so the alternate crossing couldn't be made. I didn't check that out as I was content to go wander up to some rock outcrop where I saw a hawk of sorts perching. Passed some Prickly Pear:

and Globe Mallow

Strange Barrel Cactus with huge fangs

Climbing up past tall Saguaro and clambering over jagged dark rocks brings me up to a nice plateau and a rare find, some petroglyphs.

On a nice slab facing the valley below



Trying to tell me something?

Ocotillo

The Liberty down below

Yep, I liked it up here.


On the way back down I heard a loud buzz/hum as if from a huge transformer, then I saw a "mirage" around one of the Saguaros it was a swarm of bees moving from one Saguaro to the next. Didn't fancy staying in their path given they may have been the more aggressive Africanized variety. I gave them a wide berth, cool to see though.
Don't know what this one is:

In the wash below


Back to base camp to pick up Sally then dinner at the Raw Vegan Academy, don't let the name scare you away, the food was awesome, especially the Tiramisu, no coffee though Off N to Flagstaff or as far as we get, thought we'd camp above Sunset Crater Volcano but we got a hotel, another TBC...

[gm13]

Monday morning, day 3.
Up to an early start in Flagstaff- though more provisioning holds us up till the outfitter opens at 9 then up rt 89

into the Navajo Indian reservation...



and the crossing at Marble Canyon. From the foot bridge:

Along the S end of the Vermillion Cliffs, eyes out for Condors.

Getting into the North Kaibab Nf, looking back towards the cliffs.

Really can't say it enough, this area is incredible, didn't realize how much we both needed a good eye stretch till we were engulfed in them.
Up through Fredonia then into Kanab For our final grocery supplies and 15 gallons of water in 2.5 gal. tapped containers. Can you believe I forgot to get beer? not that it would have been cold....

[agavelvr]

Don't know what this one is:

Great trip report! So happy to see the Bloody Basin and weather treated you right. Nice to see people appreciating plants
That is a cholla of some kind. Perhaps Opuntia acanthocarpa "buckhorn cholla" or Opuntia versicolor "staghorn cholla". Hard for me to tell from the picture, but Opuntia gets you the proper genus for sure

[gm13]

Great trip report! So happy to see the Bloody Basin and weather treated you right. Nice to see people appreciating plants
That is a cholla of some kind. Perhaps Opuntia acanthocarpa "buckhorn cholla" or Opuntia versicolor "staghorn cholla". Hard for me to tell from the picture, but Opuntia gets you the proper genus for sure

Thanks Jeff.

[gm13]

On to the Antelope Valley Road, the 60 some miles to the edge. Passed 2 loaded semi's coming out and two filled, white passenger vans, found out later the trucks were hauling uranium ore and the vans most likely workers as there is a mining operation down in here. Which I guess is why the road looks like this till just about the park boundary:

Getting closer to Toroweap:

Mule Deer and Mt Trumball area behind



Arrived at the campground at sunset, made it out to campsite 8 and rushed to the overlook to catch the dying light.
Can't really describe what it's like to walk up to this, so massive yet so quiet, amazing.



Back to #8 to cook up some grub and lament the lack of a beer.
We were up for the sunrise the following morning and some beautiful golden-vermillion light:







We spent 3 nights here, I think you can see why. There are some nice trails right from camp and we spent the days walking them, admiring the views.







Loved this formation's right angle structure



We came upon this guy from the right direction thankfully, it was having a nice snooze, never budged. Was still there on our return, same position. The next rattler we encountered saw me before I saw it.

[shov3lbum]

I have to say, wonderful photography. Thank you for sharing your trip here! We might take a trip down there when we move this summer.

Might I ask, what type of camera do you use? and any specific settings that apply to your camera? You seem to really capture all the colors presented in the landscape well.

[gm13]

I have to say, wonderful photography. Thank you for sharing your trip here! We might take a trip down there when we move this summer.

Might I ask, what type of camera do you use? and any specific settings that apply to your camera? You seem to really capture all the colors presented in the landscape well.

Thanks shov3lbum, it's been enjoyable to post it up.

As for camera gear, it's a Canon 1Dmk3 and most pictures are with a 17-40mm, some with 70-200. These shots could easily be had with a Rebel and a wide lens. The trick, for me, is to expose for sky, sometimes under by up to a stop then pull out shadow detail in post, which gives a better result than exposing for shadow and pulling down highlights. Shooting in Raw makes all the difference too when going for range.

[gm13]

The first 2 nights there were only 1 or 2 other campers here so we had the whole rim area to ourselves most of the morning and evening.
as we expected, those who come to places like this are the type of folks you'd most likely want to talk to anyway and we did meet some interesting people. A solo semi-retired guy came in Wed. night in his kitted out Cherokee Sport, he had been to many amazing spots around the globe. A group of four came in 2 full size PU's hauling cargo trailers that housed ORV's, traveled in from Idaho. Probably in their early 70's and had been to most points on the N rim. Another couple, both retired professors who had hiked every trail in the canyon and were working on the rim now. Cool to talk too these guys, even if most of us were out here for the solitude.
Scraped a bit but they made it

Interesting geologic event here

Some of the vital water pockets

The unsung hero that holds it all in place, cryptobiotic crust

As far as I can tell this is Kodachrome Bladderpod but it's not supposed to be here according to Utah DNR

The finger pointing westward that I just had to get to the tip of



Thursday evening just after sunset we bid Toroweap farewell and set off to refuel and spend the night in Kanab.
At this point there was a full house.