Roughin’ It

#2 Into the Ponderosa Pine Forest

From Phoenix to Jacob’s Lake and then into the interior of the North Rim Lodge area was about 350miles. This land mass north of the Grand Canyon is known as the Arizona Strip. Since the Canyon and Colorado River are natural barriers that cuts that area off from lower Arizona, the sparse population there are more closely connected to Southern Utah. The towns of St. George, Hurricane, Kanab, UT and Colorado City, AZ or Page, AZ further to the east, are the most prominent places for commerce to the few inhabitants living in the Arizona Strip, and even then, unpaved roads therein make it more inhospitable to manage living there. It is truly a rugged place, albeit a place of immense wild beauty and solitude. The area’s rugged remoteness weeds out the faint of heart from venturing very far into this wilderness. 

First place to visit was in the North Rim Lodge area that burned in 2025, but our camping spots were further into the forest along the Rainbow Rim trail miles away from the burn area. All roads leading into these remote areas are unpaved, the main one, Route 22 is a well-maintained gravel road and easy going. The forest roads branching off the main road leading out to the remote overlook points are narrower and slow going, all which makes the journey more exciting and worth the effort to reach the seclusion I desired. 

A consequence of driving those roads was dust. Tires kicked up a cloudy trail of dust that covered and obscured the rear window while more lightly settling all over my Toyota 4Runner. Not only on the outside, but  fine dust managed to infiltrate the interior, though not as thick as on the exterior. A tarp, covering our equipment inside, lessened the need to brush or wipe things down after every drive. Upon returning home, I spent a couple hours dusting, vacuuming, wiping all of the interior.

Other than some Forest Service vehicles and maybe two private ones, our drive into the area was alone. My preferred camp site was at Locust Point, the place I first camped on my earliest visits. However, as we approached my favorite spot, we found others already had taken that space. No problem, a little further on, we stopped and set up camp near the overlook at Locust Point. 

The distant points at the end of the side forest roads, all connected by the Rainbow Rim trail, are Timp, North Timp, Locust, Fence and Parissawampitts Points.  Like fingers that stretch out into the canyon, these points are remote, offering adventurous souls solitude and tremendous views into the vastness of this natural wonder. Distances between points vary from 3 to 6.5 miles depending on which one to another a person plans to travel. You see, the trail is not a straight line along an edge, but weaves in and out of the forest, broken by side canyons, drainages and ravines as the trail follows in and around or through those natural elements of the terrain.  Both mountain bikers and hikers avail themselves to the trail. While much of the trail wanders into and through the Ponderosa Pine forest, at times it comes close to the rim edge with stunning views into the canyon. There, at 8000 feet above sea level, the forest monopolizes the landscape providing some shade and stillness. 

Setting up camp, Mark used a small tent next to my 4Runner. With a blow-up air mattress and sleeping bag, his nest for the night was set until we retired after dark. Meanwhile, I opened my roof top tent, threw up a sleeping pad and bag, plus blanket and pillow for my nightly nest.

After that preparation we took a short walk along that portion of the Rainbow Rim trail, savoring the walk amongst the pines and peering into the wide expanse of the Grand Canyon admiring and absorbing the views along the way. 

Telling Mark of some past experiences at Locust Point, I relayed my first visit there when I also drove a 4Runner. Being somewhat fearful of night creatures, wolves?, bears?, coyotes?, I devised a plan to help protect myself in case of an attack. (To clarify, I don’t think there are wolves or bears in that forest, but, still, I was trying to plan for any possibility). The plan was to use my key fob and hit the panic button/alarm in case I was accosted by any kind of forest creature – or humanoid creature – Big Foot?. I had noted, near my campsite there was a large bone fragment, possibly a hind quarter of a deer but gave it no further thought as I drifted off to sleep.

Snarling! Growling! – sounds outside my tent startled me awake and that nearly made my blood run cold.

 At least two creatures were skulking about very near my tent. Panic has a way of sharpening the imagination, I was almost sure they were not prowling just outside the thin tent walls ready to attack with claws tearing through the flimsy fabric, but who knows what evil lurks? In an instant, I grabbed my key fob and hit the alarm button. The alarm shattered the dark silence, echoing through the canyon. Aside from one frightened yelp, the night soon reclaimed its quiet—and I reclaimed my senses. Ahhh, back to sleep, never to be bothered again. In the morning I saw that the bones had been moved. Most likely competing coyotes were attempting to claim the prize until I scared the begeebees out of them.

Thankfully such excitement would not impose during our sleep while we were camping this time.

Others were also camping in the area, but at some distance as to not disturb us – solitude and peace soon settled in. No outside influences, no Facebook, TV, messages, emails, news or other worldly concerns would interfere for a full week away. 

What a relief to be free of those intrusions. 

Our freeze dried meals were really quite tasty. Just. add boiling water, and soon after dinner was served.