Day Seven - North Rim of the Grand Canyon - Part Two
It rained pretty good over the night and the weather looked ominous when we first woke up. We decided to take our chances and just before before we left camp, things started looking better. Today was suppose to be an out-and-back from Locust Point to Timp Point, but Cris decided that he would take a break from riding and drop us off at Locust Point and pick us up at Timp Point.
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The drive out through the forest made me think that I was on a Safari in Arizona. We even saw a Mexican Wolf. Yes a Wolf! Wolves were killed off in the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the early 1900's. Mexican Wolves have been reintroduced into Eastern Arizona and indications are that they have been dispersing into Grand Canyon Ecosystem. With all that in mind, I feel extremely lucky to have seen such a magnificent animal. Of course I was not lucky enough to get my camera up in time to get a picture of it. |
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The weather was overcast but appeared to be stable we we hit the trail. I did not mind much that this would be a short point-to-point ride today as my legs were starting to get a little cooked. It was another blissful ride of incredible scenery and flowing singletrack along the rim. We rode, we gawked, and basically took great pleasure in being in such a wonderful place.
At Timp Point.
Just
as we were finishing up the ride, the skies started turning really nasty
with some of the darkest clouds I have ever seen. The sun in the west and
the clouds in the east made for some striking contrast between the white aspens
and the darks skies. Back at camp that evening, we once again ate
like kings and made plans for a somewhat early departure in the morning.
Now that all the riding was over, we also made sure that Cris would not be
burdened with a bunch of leftover microbrews laying around in the fridge after
the trip was over. :-)
Getting There
This is one out-of-the-way trail that involves significant driving.
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To Parissawampitts Point: From Jacob Lake and the junction of
Highway 89A and 67, drive south 28 miles and turn right on Forest Development Road (FDR) 22.
(The road is about .9 miles south of the Kaibab Lodge). Take FDR22 10.5 miles to FDR 206. Turn left and continue on FDR 206 for 3.5 miles and
turn right on FDR 214 and follow it for 8 miles to the Parissawampitts Viewpoint.
These turns are marked quite well. | |
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To Timp Point: Same directions as above, but the junction of FDR 206 and 271, follow FDR 271 for 8 miles to the trailhead. |