I have never experienced such a remote and isolated place surrounded by a palpable silence as Jumpup Point, a narrow peninsula of land jutting out into Grand Canyon.
The drive
44 miles of gravel road in the Kaibab National Forest removed me from civilization. The last 10 miles along FR201 are a brutal drive over a rocky road that appears not to have seen a grader for a while. It took me 1.5 hours avoiding the potential tire punching pointy rocks and crawling over slickrock boulders. But the reward at the end was entirely worth it.
From high plateau pines and meadows a drop of 2500 feet (762 meters) in elevation brought me through the Juniper and Pinyon to a low elevation of heat and seeking shade amongst the sparse desert environment.
Definitely need a high clearance vehicle to make the last 10 miles.
Being there
I went alone to be with my cluttered brain thinking about the future, or at least what I plan to do at the end of this summer season. Yet what I discovered was just to be in the NOW of this most amazing place.
It took a while to settle in to this absolute silence surrounded by a canyon so vast. I felt disoriented to my place here. What is the name of that point, drainage and temple? Hey, I’m into geography.
Yet after I set up camp and had dinner I finally settled in and watched the late sun rays glow off canyon walls and create shadows in the depths.
No signs of human activity within the many miles of sight. The western wind brought a scent of dry desert.
I talked out loud to break the silence yet felt intruded upon by the distant sound of an occasional jet which I could not even see.
Pre-sunset a sundog appeared high above mountains on the distant horizon.
And as sunset blazed across the western sky a sense of calm finally came to me.
I was HERE, NOW, and that’s all I needed to be.