Category: National Parks and Monuments

July 25 & 26, 2016

I’ve posted before about the often crazy skies seen from Crazy Jug Point, one of my favorite places to camp in the Kaibab National Forest right along the rim of Grand Canyon.  So on my last three-day weekend I met Bill there to hopefully watch the every changing monsoon skies.

It was a rather slow drive made even slower on the last stretch of road because the butterflies were thick on the wildflowers along the road.  So I stopped often.  In fact I felt a little guilty committing murder on the truck grill but when I got to camp there weren’t any stuck to the grill.  I’m actually glad they are fast enough to elude my truck but not the camera.

Upon arrival the sky was already putting on a show.  I just love this view.  To the southeast the Rainbow Rim points (appropriately named), and south down Crazy Jug and Saddle Canyon to Swamp Point on the left and the Muave Saddle where a trail leads to Powell Plateau on the far right.  A place I have yet to visit.

I never really expect to see dragonflies in this dry environment but this one came back to the same branch several times and even posed for a bit.

A short trail from camp leads to the rim with a BIG view of the canyon.

There are several campsites under the ancient pinyon pines and junipers but we had the place all to ourselves.  The average visitors to the North Rim have neither the time or inclination to drive 1 1/2 hours through the forest on gravel roads for these marvelous views.

Mostly we just sat outside and watched the sky go by.  Maybe it was raining on the Rainbow Plateau, or farther away on the South Rim.

Crepuscular rays pierced the clouds.  These shots taken five minutes apart.

Slips of last light highlighted the light layer of Coconino sandstone just below the rim.

Although I love looking into the canyon the constantly changing sky captivated me and I took 100s of photos.  But we never got more than a few tiny sprinkles.  And of course I didn’t capture any of the lightning.

Unfortunately my camper had run completely out of propane so we ate the ice cream that Bill brought for dinner.  Guess that’s not so bad.

Especially with the sunset show sending the western canyon into purple shadow with the Unkeret Mountains in the distance.

The next morning was a whole different sky, bright and a more recognizable Arizona blue with just a few wisps to break up the monotony.

Oh yea, don’t forget to look at the little views too.  The spikey agave, or Century plant, only blooms once in its 15-25 year lifetime.  The stalk was obviously broken off but the plant will hang on a little longer.

We had planned to stay two nights but with no propane to refrigerate the groceries Bill had delivered for me to take home we left before noon.  Then I screwed up and took the wrong FR292, with choices A, B, and what turned out to be L.  At first the low hung trees looked like what I’d dodged on the way in.  But after 30 minutes when Bill stopped behind me and said we were on the wrong road I also started having doubts.  Yet we were going North, the right direction, and were committed with nowhere to turn around.

After another 30 minutes of dodging tree limbs to both sides and overhead plus crawling along at a snail’s pace over ruts and rocks I found a wide space and stopped.  Bill walked ahead a bit and discovered a junction not far from the FR425 that we wanted.  We’d actually done a loop that I don’t want to do again.  Only one photo from this experience as I couldn’t take my hands off the steering wheel.

And finally back on the right road.

After filling the propane tanks at the North Rim Country Store along the paved SR67 we headed back into the forest, but not so far away, to spend another night camping.