Arizona Strip / Grand Escalante / Canyonlands / Bear Ears - 15 day Solo Adventure - May 2025

[bashinate]

Day 0: May 11
My primary goal for this trip was to get to the remotest parts of the Arizona Strip / Grand Canyon. It was a partial success but I did not make it everywhere as events unfolded.
I left Lubbock TX at 2:30 AM Sunday morning with an uneventful drive through NM and across the Navajo Nation. I stopped at Canyon De Chelly National Monument as I had previously driven past it numerous times and never stopped.
I checked out some of the view points and continued on my way as I still had a long ways to go. By late afternoon I had made it out to the greater Zion area of Utah. I found a nice spot north of Elephant Gap with views of Zion in the distance making for a great first night.

Supplies for this trip:
20 gallons of fuel
10 gallons of water
165 Ah Lithium Battery to run my Starlink / Fridge and recharge off truck inverter
Bouge RV 12 Volt Fridge (First Trip)

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Looking forward to following along on your adventure. Thanks for posting

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Looking good. Waiting for more pictures and story to read.

 

[bashinate]

Day 1: May 12
Day Mileage: 112 Miles


The adventure begins. Filled up on gas / water and supplies in Hurricane and of course grabbed some Pizza at Maverik being adventures first stop.
Made it to where dirt began at the AZ / UT state line and aired down. My plan was to head to Hudson point and then end up at Twin Point to camp.
I took hobble canyon to hidden canyon to last chance canyon out to hudson point. It was insanely windy so much so that just standing was pushing me back.
This turned out to be many days on this trip so I wasn't able to fly my drone as much as I had planned..

I had looked at all the web cams I could find before the trip so it was cool to see the camera / weather station at hudson point.
I continued on down through the various ranching land and through Oak Grove which was beautiful to Twin Point. I marked camp spots along the way because I figured it would be way too windy to actually stay at Twin Point.
As expected Twin Point was a wind fest. I hung out until sunset ate some dinner and enjoyed some Grand Canyon Sunset Ales. I then went back to a perfect spot I had marked tucked in the pine trees of Oak Grove to camp and enjoy a campfire.

Since I left pavement in Hurricane I literally did not pass a single person the entire day. Not a soul even at Twin Point.
This is what I had been longing for. Peace and Solitude.
Having the grandeur and vastness of the Grand Canyon all to yourself isn't something that you can put into words.
If you ever have the chance to do it I couldn't recommend it more. One of the most beautiful and remote places I have been fortunate enough to experience.

Day 1 Relive GPX Track Video:

AZ Strip Day 1 | Relive

Driving | May 12, 2025

www.relive.com

 

[bashinate]

Day 2: May 13
Day Mileage : 109 Miles
Total Mileage: 221 Miles


Relive GPX Track:

https://www.relive.com/view/v7O9ZrMG3Q6

Uneventful night with perfect cool temperatures. Woke up made some coffee and cooked some breakfast. Warmed up by the fire and continued on my journey.
I had camped just south of snap point road and followed it all the way to pigeon canyon road over to Grand Gulch Mine.
The whole area going through the Grand Wash Cliffs was absolutely stunning. The contrast of the green brush and sage against the red and orange cliffs.
It wasn't quite Southern Utah nor Sedona. It was a very unique area. I came across an old cabin with a big warning sign of Hantavirus. This was also the case around the Grand Gulch area.
I looked through the log book at the cabin dating back to 1995. Reading of peoples adventures out here dating back to when I was barely a teenager is wild to think about. Pre cell phones / satellite communicators / gps apps / starlink.
Back then you were truly alone with nothing but paper maps. It reminded me of how I grew up where the wild was just part of everyday life. It is what draws me to these places. The search for home in a foreign land.

I had lunch out at Grand Gulch mine and explored around for a bit. I then continued on up pigeon canyon road and ultimately made my way all the way up to Mount Trumball road.
It was just after getting back onto pigeon canyon road that I passed the first vehicle since I left pavement back in Hurricane the previous morning. Right after passing I began to question whether I recognized the driver. Eventually reviewing the dash cam footage I confirmed my suspicion that it was indeed Rudy the son of Matt's Off-Road Recovery in his Radcharger.

The next stop was of course the Mt Trumbull School House. My plan was to head to Bar 10 Ranch and see about getting topped off with fuel. I eventually got out there and inquired about getting some fuel. The manager came out to talk to me. A very friendly European guy. I forget his name. He said that they did not operate as a public service station and had limited fuel but that they would be willing to sell me some for the modest price of $10 per gallon. I had brought 20 gallons with me but figured it was worth it as I had planned to spend a few more days in the strip without having to go back to St. George to refuel. While there I took advantage and got a hot shower. Pickleball in the Grand Canyon ? It really is everywhere now. I chatted with fellow that brought out the fuel and asked him about camp spots in the area. I had planned to go up to Whitmore Point and he mentioned how there were actually two spots right across from each other. Whitmore Point facing the East for Sunrise and Parashant Point facing West for Sunset. I thanked him and headed in that direction. The road up to Whitmore Point was pretty steep and slow going. It took me about 2 hours to all the way up there at a slow crawl but I still made it up by late afternoon. I decided to camp at Parashant Point for sunset and then get up early and drive over to Whitmore for sunrise.

Thankfully it wasn't windy so I had a great evening enjoying the sunset over the Grand Canyon all to myself.

 

[rcintx]

Enjoying your trip report. I hail from Lubbock as well and appreciate the drive you made just to start the adventure. I hope to do something similar this coming Soring.

Subscribed and ready for more.

 

[Jupiter58]

Great trip so far! What kind of range and gas mileage are you getting out of the Toyota?
Also thoughts on the bougie cooler? I have one I use in my wrangler. I got the extra plug in battery for it.
I think it was one of the best purchases I made!

Any issues for a full size truck on the route?

 

[bashinate]

Great trip so far! What kind of range and gas mileage are you getting out of the Toyota?
Also thoughts on the bougie cooler? I have one I use in my wrangler. I got the extra plug in battery for it.
I think it was one of the best purchases I made!

Any issues for a full size truck on the route?

It all depends offroad but I think i average roughly 250 miles or so from my 20 gallon tank. Thats about the top of the range I have gotten when fully loaded down with gear / extra gas / water etc.
Oh man the fridge is a game changer. I had been wanting one for years but could never pull the trigger on the pricey dometics. I saw the bouge one and all the reviews were great. After the first full trip no complaints. Highly recommend.
It even holds temperature pretty well for quite a while when not plugged in just like any good cooler. I was very happy with that. Power use also seemed very minimal. I had no issues running it off the truck while driving and then off my battery when camping.

No issues for full size truck on this entire trip I did. Nothing super technical or off-camber on any of it really. Probably the roughest part was going up to Whitmore Point but even that wasn't bad. Just take it slow

 

[bashinate]

Day 3: May 14
Day Mileage: 130 Miles
Total Mileage: 351 Miles


I woke up at 4am and quickly packed up the tent. I drove a couple miles in the dark over to Whitmore Point.
I made coffee and hiked up over the hill. I sat on a rock and drank my coffee looking forward to what was coming.
Daylight was just starting to form and I started to see some cotton candy skies. There are no words pictures or video that could capture this moment.
It was one of those moments I will remember for the rest of my life. Truly. It was the most amazing sunrise of my life and I have been fortunate to see many in some amazing places around the world.
I haven't yet made it to Tuweep / Kanab Point etc on the Strip (as I will mention shortly) but out of the North and South Rim areas that I have been to this was by far my favorite spot of the Grand Canyon I had seen so far.
It wasn't windy either making it all the more enjoyable. With a big smile on my face I hiked back down to the campsite I parked at and decided to make a fire and cook some breakfast. I took my time knowing that it was impossible to beat what I had already witnessed.
I took everything out of the truck and spent time really organizing it all trying to pack away everything I had brought I wasn't planning to use on a daily basis. A constant struggle between what I bring just in case versus what I use everyday.

It was late morning by the time I got on the road back down to Bar 10 Ranch. I was planning to take my time and head down to Whitmore Canyon to camp for the night. It was nice to take my time knowing I didn't have far to go and would still get there early enough to be able to hike down to the Colorado River.
I knew this was a popular area that was one of those "overlanding spots" everyone went to so I figured there would be people down there regardless. On the way down the truck started to feel off. I started feeling some vibrations that were not normal.
I stopped and looked over everything and couldn't see any visible issues. I kept going and got back to the main road through Bar 10 Ranch and headed down toward the canyon. It was here that I really started to notice the truck vibrating. In hindsight I should have just turned around at that point but I didn't.
I figured I was so close I would just get down to the canyon to camp and then figure out what was going on. On the way down I kept passing vehicle after vehicle. There was a massive group that had been camping down there the night before at looked like some sort of meet up. I must have passed 30 rigs or more I imagine.
By the time I got down there around 2pm or so everyone had left and I was the only person down there. By that point the truck had really started to shake badly. I took a look around and soaked up the view of the colorado and weighed my options.
I decided since it was still early in the day I should try to limp back to civilization and get into a shop the next morning. So took some pictures and started the slow and long haul back to hurricane. Thankfully I made it back uneventfully just taking it slow. I went to Sand Hollow State Park and got a campsite for the night which I had never been too before although having driven past it numerous times. Unfortunately I didn't get to explore there as I headed to Big O Tires first thing in the morning. Thankfully it was something simple and the wheels were just really off balance. It was a quick fix and I was able to get back on the road.
Now what ?

 

[Jupiter58]

Great pics!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EX121]

Thanks for the trip report.

 

[welikecamping2]

Awesome pics!

 

[Kingsize24]

Absolutely stunning! Would love to grab the GPX files themselves from you when you have time. Thank you for sharing your adventure.

 

[COAKXterra]

So awesome!

We did a trip like that years ago, starting in Moab and Canyonlands/Natural Bridges, out past Powell and across into Capital Reef, Escalante, Vermillion Cliffs, north Rim, Parashant, Vegas for a shower then Death Valley and into LA. Took nearly 10 days I think. Your photos are kicking up some great memories of that trip. Thanks for sharing!