North Rim and northward

[Box Rocket]

I have a week long trip later in September I'm in charge of planning the route for and I had most of it all figured out. But there were a few sections of the planned route that I was not familiar with. I had some time free up last week so on very short notice we packed up the Tacoma and my wife and I took our 6yr old twins and we headed out to pre-run the areas I needed more knowledge of. We left Syracuse, Utah on Wednesday last week and drove to Fredonia, AZ for a final fuel stop before heading to the North Rim.

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The Chevron in Fredonia is focused on selling only the essentials

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Our first stop was Crazy Jug Point.

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We found a nice spot to camp a bit farther down the rim at Monument Point and set up for the night.

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[Box Rocket]

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[Box Rocket]

From Monument Point we drove out to Point Sublime for lunch. From the word of a few of the locals we were in for a treat with the views at Point Sublime. It was nice, but I was not as awestruck as I thought I'd be. I thought the views at Crazy Jug and Monument Point were just as good if not better. We crossed a beautiful high mountain meadow on the way.

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[Box Rocket]

After we left Point Sublime, we drove over to Jacob's Lake and southeast toward Buck Farm Point to look at another possible camp site. It was a really cool drive and the view from Buck Farm point was spectacular but far more barren than all the green we'd seen at the other areas.

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[Box Rocket]

We didn't stay there for the night and had other plans to camp somewhere near Lake Powell. So off we went and drove through the Vermilion Cliffs. It was right at the "golden hour" and the weather was perfect with some great clouds that made for a stunning drive until the sun set.

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There had been rain and there were several washouts that made for a few small challenges but nothing that really slowed us down.

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By the time we got to were I planned to camp at Lake Powell it was dark and I hoped we had found the right spot. In the morning we woke to a really nice view of the Lake. Definitely a cool spot to camp.

 

[Box Rocket]

We were running short on time from that point on so I didn't take as many photos, but we left Lake Powell and drove over the Kelly Grade to Escalante for lunch and then over to Boulder to check out our next planned campsite in the Grand Staircase Monument along the Burr Trail. The Noton-Bullfrog road going south after the Burr Trail was closed because of the washouts so we headed north to Hanksville. Of course we had to stop for fuel at the famous Hollow Mountain gas station in Hanksville.

Then it was north into the San Rafael Swell. We took a backroad into the swell just as the sun was setting and had to stop for a few photos.

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For a spur of the moment trip, it was a perfect 4 days through some wonderful areas. It made me really anxious for the "official" trip in a couple months.

 

[mph]

you have some wonderful pictures there...looks like a stellar trip. how were the temps?

 

[SmoothLC]

Really cool cloud formations.

We'll have to head to Crazy Jug sometime. We were camping near Jacob's Lake a couple years ago but didn't get a chance to explore all that much.

 

[SIZZLE]

Even your preruns are epic! Great pics, I really enjoy your reports.

 

[Box Rocket]

you have some wonderful pictures there...looks like a stellar trip. how were the temps?

Temps were perfect. Highest we saw was at Lake Powell and that was 83*F. Nights were low 60s.

Even your preruns are epic! Great pics, I really enjoy your reports.

Thanks. Epic is a grand description. It was a good trip but this is one that anyone could tackle without much trouble.

 

[fortel]

Great photos as always. Love to see these trip reports where family is included in the adventure.

 

[RockyMtnFamily]

Great trip report!!! Let me know if you have any room for company in the September trip. I worked at the North Rim for two summers and enjoy visiting that area from time to time.

 

[Sierra Valley]

Nice!!! I really want to get up to the north rim. Unfortunately was closed this spring when we were in south Utah

 

[upndown]

Beautiful photos of some amazing scenery, never Get tired of those views. It always amazes me how something can be so undescribably rugged yet beautiful at the same time. Thanks for sharing!

 

[XJLI]

Great pics, sweet rig setup too. Pretty sure I camped at Point Sublime when I was there in 2010.