Lori and I flew out from Columbus to Vegas in the summer of 2006. For her it was more or less her first trip to the Red Rock country. She had been there many years before with her ex-husband and her 3 young boys. But it was more of a whirlwind tour, driving through the area with a few brief stops at scenic overlooks. For me, I had just moved back temporarily to Columbus to be with Andrea for her last 2 years of high school at Grandview. I had left my Kayenta home about 2 1/2 months earlier, and I missed the desert.
We flew into Vegas late one night and stayed at one of the hotels. I definetly realized I didn't miss the madness of Vegas. But this was Lori's first trip to Vegas so she was looking forward to seeing it; in fact many friends and family members told her what a great place it was, all the glitz, excitement, noise, people, casino's, lights (everything that the desert isn't). I begrudgingly went along with the Vegas part. Many of her friends who were Vegas fans couldn't understand why she wasn't going to stay the whole time in Vegas, rather then waste her time in backpacking in the desert. I think after an hour in Vegas, she had enough of it and was ready to move on. The highlight for her may have been landing at the airport, the 30 minutes we were able to see the bright lights of The Strip through the airplane window.
The next morning we drove to St. George. I wasn't going to be able to spend any time in Kayenta due to the divorce I was going through was just about wrapping up and Nan was still living in my Kayenta house. I did drive through Kayenta, past my house (as I hid low as to not to be seen). Lori went into the Xetava coffee house, but again I kept a low profile. I didn't want anyone to know that I was there, with a good female friend. I then stopped by my hiking buddies house, DNally, to say hi and to pick up all my backpacking equipment that I stored during my absence. We loaded our car and we're ready.
And speaking of loading the rental car, I had originally rented a standard car at National Car Rental. But at the counter they talked me into upgrading to a Jeep Cherokee. And what a great idea that was to do so, cause even with this good size off road vehicle, and with all of my gear and Lori's gear, as well as normal luggage, we barely were able to fit everything into the car.
Our first destination, was the North Rim of the Grand Canyon - to do a 1 night backpack trip to Cape Final. When we got on top of the North Kaibab plateau and headed south from Jacob's Lake, we came about 5 miles south of there to a temporary road block. The forest service was battling a wildfire off the side of the highway and they were allowing traffic but at a slow, controlled speed. We waited for about 15 minutes and found out that it was supposedly a controlled fire, that they were confident it would be 100% contained in a day or two.
So on we went. The Kaibab plateau is full of pine and aspen trees, a beautiful sight. We made our way on the Walhalla Plateau towards Cape Royal, with it's views of the eastern Grand Canyon and the Navajo Lands to the east. Two miles before road's end at the Cape Royal parking lot, we found our trailhead parking.
When Lori threw her backpack on to begin the trip, it seemed pretty large and heavy for her. We got started and within the first few minutes she gave up and said she couldn't go any further, that it was hurting too much and was way too heavy. She tossed it off her back and to the ground. We contimplated whether to go on or to give up our backpacking plans. I told her it was only about 1 1/2 miles total distance and the trail would soon level off for most of that 1 1/2 miles. We transferred a few of her things to my backpack to lighten her load. Don't know what all she had in her pack originally, but once I took a few of her items it was much more tolerable for her. So on we went. We got to our camping spot for the night, threw our packs down, then dayhiked the rest of the way to Cape Final, the actually spot with the grand view of the Grand Canyon. It's always nice to see someone's face and expression when they see a sight like the Grand Canyon for the first time (she had actually seen it years before, but not from the North Rim), and she was in awe of the sight. As was I, even though I've been to Cape Final a couple of times before.
The next morning we got back to the car and went to the visitors center near Bright Angel Point. After checking out the popular and spectucular view point over looking the North Kaibab Trail, we went to the visitors center. We were trying to decide between 2 options for this day and where we were going to camp this night. I was suggesting a trip to Toroweap, a very remote section of the Grand Canyon by way of the rugged, wild Arizona Strip. But I wasn't sure if Lori would appreciate the long 2 hour dirt road in the strip (not to confused with the Las Vegas Strip). Many people just don't like travelling for so long in this area, and if your car breaks down, you're in trouble. Option 2 would be a more tame trip to Bryce Canyon National Park - safer and more sure. So Lori wanted to get the opinion of one of the Park Rangers at the visitor center.
We talked to a nice lady working behind the desk, and she didn't really convince Lori or me either way. I thought we'd end up going to Bryce, which would have been fine, but the ranger could tell that I knew what I was talking about and had lots of experience in the desert southwest. We left, discussed it a while longer. Lori wanted to go back to ask the ranger a few more questions. She told Lori that if it was her, she'd go along with Toroweap, especially going out there with someone who knows alot about the area, since it is a special place. Then she mentioned something that I can't believe I didn't mention to Lori. And that is the one thing that Toroweap has over most other places. That is the spiritual feel of the area, being out there all alone, in the middle of the wild, the Native American spirit that is out there all around you. Nothing else needed to be said - we were off to Toroweap.
I knew Lori would love the Toroweap point, you can't beat the view. And the solitude at the campground and the whole area. It was her favorite place. But really surprised me was when she said the greatest part of the trip was the road in the Arizona Strip. The total solitude and wilderness aspects of the area. The morning we were leaving the campground to get back to civilization, we had a Native American CD playing in the car, by Robbie Robertson (1/4 Iroquois). At the best song, we stopped the car, got out, and danced to the music blaring from the car - on top a rock over the road.
Our next stop was Zion. But first we drove through Colorado City/Hilldale - home of the at the time fugitive Warren Jeffs and head of the Polygamy gang in that town. I took her to his gigantic compound in town, which was built like a fortress. Luckily we escaped without her becoming his 15th wife and me getting thrown in jail.
I took a short cut from Hilldale over a mountain dirt road, past Gooseberry Mesa, into the town of Rockville. Before descending into Rockville, we took a lunch break at a spot along that road to have our lunch break. What a great view of Zion Canyon to the north and east of us. We then drove off to the Kolob Reservoir section to go to our backpacking spot for the night, along the Wildcat/Northgate Peaks trail. But first, we needed to freshen up from being out in the woods and desert for 2 nights without a bath. So we stopped at the Right Fork Trailhead of Zion, on our way up to our stop for the night. At the Right Fork Trailhead, we dropped off down the 300 feet lava rock cliffs down to the North Creek far below. At the scenic cascades where we came to, we took a nice bath (clothed). The water was cold, refreshing, and the sun was perfect.
That night we backpacked a little over a mile to our spot just south of the junction of the Northgate Peaks Trail and Upper Subway trail. Needless to say we had the whole area to ourselves. That evening we hiked the remaining mile to the actually point, and the next morning we went down the first mile or so of the very steep Upper Subway trail. We did run into a few groups of hikers getting started on their long days journey down the Subway trail.
Our last day and night in Zion was going to be a day of recovery, meaning back towards the main part of Zion Canyon. We checked into the cabin that we'd be staying in, showered up, and did a few little hikes in that area - the first part of the Narrows, Emerald Pool, etc..
The last morning, we headed out. First, we stopped off in Kayenta, still incognito. We visited my brother and his family , and then off to Vegas to catch our plane. The one big drawback for any of these trips to the wild desert in the Colorado Plateau, is you can be in such a great frame of mind from being in the wilderness, being in Zion, Grand Canyon, etc.. But when you go to Vegas to catch your plane home, that great spirit is zapped out of you immediately by the frenzy and glitz and concrete of Vegas.
One last thing, as we took off into the air heading east, we were thousands of feet above the North Kaibab Plateau. And the sight was frightening. The supposed wild fire that was under control a few days earlier, the one that we were driving right along on our first day going to Cape Final, had raged out of control. From the window of the plane, you could see a great pillow of smoke reaching up towards us in the sky. This would turn out to be one of the huge wildfires of that fire season out west. One of the ones that grabbed the headlines in all the newspapers. Over a year later I would drive through the afermath of that as I drove that highway, and it was miles and miles of blackened trees, a sad sight indeed.
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