Mount Trumbull is a broad old shield volcano located in the remote outback of the Arizona Strip. It is an extremely isolated peak in the middle of some of the least developed, remotest land in the nation. The Arizona Strip is the name given to the lands north of the Grand Canyon, up to the Utah state line. It is connected to the rest of the state by two bridges, and has just two towns: Fredonia and the notorious Colorado City. Most of the Arizona Strip is undeveloped high desert and rangeland, cut by a series of cliffs and canyons. Even today, very few people live up here. Some ghost towns from about 1900 still linger, and there is some ranching in spots. Much of the land is protected as part of the Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area or the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. Visitng up here is like going back in time. Other than the roads, it probably looks identical to how it looked in 1900, 1800, 1700, and so on.

I had only been north of the Grand Canyon once, in 1996 while visiting the North Rim. For this trip, Beth and I planned some time again at the North Rim, and as our main goal, the spectacular Toroweap Overlook. Naturally, we would work in a hike up Mount Trumbull along with our plans. From Chandler, we overnighted in Page at a nice old motel, the owner's two big cats coming into our room at will (we didn't mind). The next day was to be our big hiking and exploration day at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were able to drive the main roads and get some nice driving tours, but snow still shut out the side roads and our hiking plans were forcibly nixed. The day's amusement was provided by a New Yorker guy trying to insist that he be granted permission to drive some of these closed roads, him being a famous photographer with a big 4-wheel drive vehicle and all that. The ranger lady, to her credit, just said no every time. We stayed the night camping nearby.

Early the next morning we drove down into Fredonia to stock up on gas and goodies, plus give the truck a quick once-over before venturing onto the dirt roads. But before all this, we drove into Colorado City, mainly to visit a lat-long confluence (37 N, 113 W) that conveniently is just outside the town, but really to get a look at town and its people. This was about the time all the crazy stuff with Warren Jeffs was just starting to make news. We had a successful visit to the confluence, made a short drive through the town itself, then got out. I felt very uncomfortable there. It's probably the least friendly place in the entire United States and a real bad situation overall. Anyway, we drove back to the dirt road off of AZ-289, signed for Toroweap, 61 miles. Our off-road journey was now officially underway.

The drive starts out innocently enough. It's high desert and grassland, with mesas and mountains way off on the horizons. Mount Trumbull is visible as a broad, evenly-shaped hump way far away looking southwest. The road is dirt, but wide and graded well. All the warnings we read told us to expect at least one flat tire. We took the road slow, about 25 miles per hour, and had no trouble. However, sometimes the road gets real smooth then just as fast, it gets rocky. I think that's where the flats occur, since it's so easy to get going 40 or 50 miles per hour, then hit a patch of chunky rocks. My suggestion: just go slow. Trust me, there's no traffic up here.

After about two hours, we neared the Tuweep Ranger Station, which is part of the Grand Canyon National Park. It's just a small home and office, nothing fancy, and not really geared for tourists. When we rolled in, the ranger was out somewhere. We continued on south toward the Toroweap Overlook and campground. The last few miles were rougher, so we took it very carefully, arriving into the campground in mid-afternoon. The campground is set amid natural rock formations and is just beautiful. It was hot, about 100 degrees, when we arrived. But as the sun set, things cooled nicely. I did some short hikes surrounding the camping area. We even had a brief run-in with the New Yorker guy, who sure enough had a flat. Probably taking the road too fast. Beth and I made a short drive to the actual overlook at sunset, then again the next morning for some of the most amazing views of the Grand Canyon possible. It was a serene place and we had it to oursleves that morning. Please see our trip report.

After Toroweap we backtracked to the Tuweep Ranger Sttaion then up to a road junction, no going west up a slight gradient through a small stand of pinon and juniper woodlands. The road surmounted a saddle in the Uinkaret Mountains, then gently descended the other side, eventually coming out to near the Nixon Ranger Station (part of the BLM here). We parked in a parking area near the trailhead, elevation 6,500 feet exactly. We started our hike a little before 9 a.m. in slightly warm conditions. The sky was bright blue and very still.

The trail makes a few sitchbacks and some long traverses as it gains up the rubbly slopes and occasional cliffs that line Mount Trumbull's south face. Quickly, the lower pinon and junipers give way to grander ponderosa pines, and the ground becomes covered in a mat of pine needles. About two miles up, the trail flattens and starts to lose distinction, essentially "ending" for all intents and purposes. Here, an older German fellow named Fritz came walking down, mildly frustrated in not finding the summit. He said he'd wandered over an hour up there with no luck. After he left, we resumed our hike and did our best to maintain a constant bearing in the trees once the trail ended. Beth was able to spot a cairn and slowly, we were able to stay the course.

The last half-mile went like this. We would find a kicked-over cairn or some tree limbs that had seemingly been arranged to line the trail, but usually laid askew. We theorized that this being a wilderness, that these unofficial trail-navigation items are not welcome as they detract from the wilderness. I can only assume that it may be the BLM rangers who might remove these items periodically. Your average hiker probably wouldn't bother with all the effort. It was baffling. If the trail is so solid for the first 80% of the hike, why not just extend it? I am sure people get lost up here as a result.

Beth and I were able to make our way successfully to the summit, which, not surprisingly, is flat, broad and mostly covered in light forest. Views north and south were lovely, with Humphreys Peak visible way off south, the Uinkaret Range closer south, and the infinity of cliffs farther north into Utah. We spent some time up here relaxing, eating a lunch, and swatting the insects. The day was getting warm fast, so we decided to start hiking down after about a half-hour. The egress took just an hour and we were back to the truck a little after noon, by which time the temperatures were nearing 100 degrees.

We spent the rest of the day making the slow drive out toward St. George, Utah, via the Hurricane Cliffs, including one very interesting section where the road descends steeply down the cliff-face itself. We toured the ghost town of Mount Trumbull, marveled at the remoteness of this country, and took the roads slowly as we descended down the plateaus, eventually coming to paved River Road at the Utah state line. We cleaned up and stayed a night in St. George. The dust had covered everything, including us, about an inch thick.

Our Arizona Strip journey had gone well, with no flats. We had a great time at Toroweap and Mount Trumbull. Subsequent reports indicate the trail to the top may be more distinct these days as more pople come this way. I would love to revisit Toroweap some day.