Sunday, May 28, 2023

27 May 2023 Tuweep

 The North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park is still closed, and we were wanting to see the canyon. Pam did not want to send the day getting bounced around again, so she stayed home to tend to some chores. Leslie, Bail and David plotted a path through Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument to the Tuweep district of Grand Canyon National Park. This is a very remote area and we had to drive 62 miles of dirt and gravel roads (one way) through portions of the Kaibab Indian Reservation, across the Kanab Plateau (on 109), into the eastern end of Grand Canyon Parashant NM. The road to the NM was in pretty good shape and we were able to cruise along at 30MPH.  We spotted a nice sized lone Pronghorn that crossed the road in front of us.The wild flowers along the road were just beautiful and formed a carpet of orange all the way to the next ridge. When we entered the NM, the road conditions degraded and we had to slow down to avoid beating us and the Behemoth to death. We then followed CR5 down to the Tuweep entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. There a park VIP checked our pass, which David had purchased last night, and gave us directions. 3.8 Miles from the ranger station, the road changed into a serious fourwheel drive track. The Behemoth bounced and bucked for another 2.8 miles to the end of the road at the rim of the Grand Canyon. The views from the rim are spectacular. There were no crowds and no guard rails. We took our time walking around the point where the road ended at the Toroweap Overlook and enjoyed great views down into the canyon to the east and west. We pulled out our lunches and sat down in the shade to eat lunch with a ranger and another VIP  (who happened to be the Ranger’s mother  from Massachusetts who had been coming every year for 15 years) that were there to keep folks from doing anything really crazy along the edge. After lunch, we piled back into the Behemoth for the four hour drive back to Kanab and were lucky enough to spot two more Pronghorn in the distance.

Entrance Sign

Flowers along the road

Entrance Sign

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon



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