Anyway, after waiting to allow the rains and heat to subside, I finally rent a SUV to head up there for a few days. Dave Lehman, a friend and fellow musician, expresses some interest, so I invite him along. Tuesday morning we depart Flagstaff and head up 89 to 89A, across the Kaibab Plateau to Fredonia, a route I've been on a number of times. Past Fredonia I turn onto the Mount Trumbull loop. Most of the road is in great shape and we cruise along rapidly, but after we turn onto the road to Toroweap we reach a big dust pit in the road and treacherous rocks thereafter, none of which I would have attempted in my own car.
We reach the Toroweap campground just a mile from the overlook. The campground has composting toilets, picnic tables, and BBQ grills, and nothing else. If anything the road inside the campground is even worse, and at one point I have Dave walk out front and spot for me. With 9 regular sites and a group site, the campground is very nearly full by the time we arrive, many having arrived earlier today.
Here I must interject my amazement at, not only the trash strewn about or chucked down the privies by other visitors, but the incredible carelessness of their approach to obstacles. Crash, bang, scrape, clunk, go the vehicles which include not only high-clearance SUVs but tour vans and Priuses and every vehicle you can imagine. Romantically, one may admire the cavalier attitude born of innate self-confidence; or, as I do, cringe at the oxen-headed determination germinated by sheer ignorance. To the campers' credit, however, I must commend their overall silence at night. Had loud stereo music erupted during our stay, Dave and I might have resorted to some unwise form of retaliation.
Once we reach our campsite, the view is spectacular. Here's a view of the Grand Canyon east from the campsite - note the smoke in the distance from a fire on Kaibab Plateau; the plateau itself is visible as a dark line on the eastern horizon:
And here's the view to the south:
Anticipating the lack of shade, I've purchased a pop-up canopy which indeed turns out to be useful. Our campsite is against a rock wall that faces roughly southwest: while in the shade in the morning, henceforth we are under siege from the sun until it dips behind the rocks to the west. After setting up camp, we walk southwards down to the Toroweap Overlook. On the way out I take a picture back towards the campsite; note the white SUV and the blue canopy (Toroweap Point is in the background):
During the hike along the road, we notice what is clearly some transmission fluid dribbled on the rocks. OK, enough of that. Here's the view from Toroweap Overlook:
Toroweap Point is to the north as we walk along:
Here I'm looking east towards Cove Canyon and Big Point:
And south towards another canyon that's not named on the USGS quad:
On the way back, we go behind the campsite and get this view from above:
Later that afternoon, a tour van full of Germans, pulling a trailer, comes into the campground for the night. For the next 14 hours, the privy near our campsite has seemingly uninterrupted traffic.
By the time we leave around 9 AM, the campground is nearly empty. My original thought in planning the trip was that there would be fewer people in the middle of the week, but I guess everyone else thought the same thing. On our way out of the campground, I take a picture of Vulcan's Throne, the largest cinder cone in the area:
We continue west on the Mount Trumbull loop, making a side trip south to the Nampaweap petroglyph site:
Unfortunately, some of the more distant shots don't turn out, and end up being discarded upon my return home. I do hope to get a decent telephoto camera someday.
At the southern base of Mount Trumbull, we pass through a patch of Ponderosa pine forest, seemingly having been in a recent prescribed burn. Further on, we see Mount Logan to the south, displaying some brilliant aspen and maple colors (again, unfortunately, the shot doesn't turn out). Then we follow switchbacks down the Hurricane Cliffs and reach the Mount Trumbull School House. The original historic building was burned down by vandals in July 2000, and rebuilt the following year by the BLM and local citizens (note Dave in the picture):
At this point I'm out of memory on the camera. We finish the Mount Trumbull loop at St. George, eat lunch at a city park in Washington, and come back through Colorado City to Pipe Spring National Monument. Since my last visit in December 2000, a very nice new visitor center and museum has been built there.
We continue past Fredonia and veer off 89A up Winter Road to Buckskin Mountain to make camp. In honor of our usual Thursday night music practice, we make some token attempts at rehearsal. The fact is that, though we have brought along our instruments, most of our conscious nocturnal hours have been spent watching the stars and trying to work out the actual constellations between Sagittarius and Taurus.
On Friday, we continue down House Rock Road, reach 89A again, eat breakfast at Cliff Dwellers Restaurant, and make it back to Flagstaff before noon.