Mileage: 68,636

Kaibab Paiute RV Campground Fredonia, Arizona

We left Zion behind and dropped down into Arizona, having completed the “Big 5” in Utah. We were able to see Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce, and Zion. Southern Utah is a really special place and I am glad we got to go!

As we traveled south, the land was flat and scruffy. I had just thought to myself “there really isn’t much here” just as Tim said “I really like it here. So, I looked at it with fresh eyes; the vast open spaces, the golden grasses, the vivid blue sky.

We parked the RV at the Kaibab Paiute RV Campground. This campground is on tribal land. The property was clean and new and the rates for full hookups were ridiculously cheap. There was a tremendous view.

Our plan today was to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. There are several overlooks that can be accessed only by 4WD high clearance vehicles. Going to the Grand Canyon the normal way on the normal road was NOT going to do! We wanted to see something that few other people get to see! We were excited. There is always a keen sense of anticipation as we go…kind of like the surprise in the bottom of the box of cracker jacks!

We turned from Highway 389 onto Antelope Valley Road.

We would much rather be on this isolated dirt and gravel road than on a shuttle bus and walking on a river path with 2,000 other people.

The view.

At the entrance to Tuweep, there was a ranger station with a little house. An older woman and her husband are manning the station as volunteers for a 3 month stretch extending into December. She was warm and welcoming, bright and knowledgeable. They are living off the grid. They have solar panels, propane, and a water catchment system with a cistern for collecting rainwater. In this very remote and isolated area, they have no TV, no cell service, and no internet. They travel into town every 10 days or so to stock supplies and to catch up on “normal life.” Their responsibilities are to monitor the comings and goings in the park, issue cautions re: difficult driving conditions and steep drop-offs, and to educate. Tim said he would take this post…he would have some convincing to do!

Views on the way to the overlook.

It was 61 miles on a really dusty road!

I have been to the Grand Canyon before. The first glimpse of it though, should always take your breath away!!

The Toroweap Overlook is 3,000 feet above the river. There is a sheer drop off. The canyon is at its narrowest here, only 1 mile across.

Lunch spot.

This was an extraordinary way to see the North Rim. No buses, no souvenir shops, just us and the Grand Canyon with the Colorado River roaring and surging far below.