TWOLOST: May, 2012: UT + AZ trip report

[twolost]

Date (day): May, 21 (Day 24)
Source: Flaggstaff, AZ
Destination: Peach Springs, AZ
Travel Miles: 135
Resources: Peach Springs Canyon; Diamond Creek


Deviation from plan: With the first half of our amazing journey in the books… I was having my doubts that the second half could live up to the first half. Time to find out. Right out of the box we had a plan change. Alan and Liz from Sportsmobile West had invited us to be part of a larger convoy of Sportsmobiles that were going to drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Access would be via the Hualapai tribal reservation located on the south rim of the Grand Canyon at Peach Springs, AZ. A permit is required to legally make the drive from Peach Springs down Diamond Creek Road. Per Wikipedia, “Diamond Creek Road provides the only vehicular access to the Colorado River between Lees Ferry, 225 miles upriver and Pierce Ferry, 52 miles downriver”. Our original plan had us driving up to the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park and staying in the North Rim Campground for three days. This little detour would cost us one day at the North Rim Campground… but it seemed well worth it. And it was!!


After meeting almost everyone in the Flagstaff WallMart parking lot bright and early in the morning we then convoyed up to Peach Springs to meet with the team leader (another SMB owner) who had stayed overnight in Peach Springs. We all proceeded to get our permits from the Hualapai Tribal Center before making the drive down the 20+ miles of graded dirt road to the shores of the Colorado. As we descended down and down and down… the temperature soared. By the time we arrived, the temperature had spiked to nearly 114 degrees (F) and then dropped slightly to 110 degrees (F) right on the river bank. For a family from the rainy side of Washington State, this was crazy hot. It took no time at all before we were sitting in the cool Colorado with an ice cold drink in hand.


Not long after we arrived, so did a tribal policeman. I don’t think that he got the memo. He sat in his running police truck and watched over us for a while before he came over and started verifying all of our permits. He said that we could not park/camp along the river overnight (for various reasons). One reason given was that the area would be crawling with rafting guides and equipment at first light. The officer retreated back to his running vehicle and watched over us for another couple of hours before he got tired and/or bored and left. Nobody in our group had any intentions of staying anywhere overnight – except the side of the river... and the closer the better. Team Aluminess even got up out of their van in the middle of the night and slept right on the river bank (which was just a precious degree cooler). I just remember dripping with sweat nearly all night long and waking to a soaking wet pillow.



Moment(s): Somehow, I ended up leading part of the convoy just after we had each purchased our permits. The directions that I remember hearing was something like “just go down the main road and look for the Diamond Creek Road cross-street”. Based on this comment, I somehow envisioned that the cross-street was at least a little ways down the main road that we were on. As I was unaware of at the time, the Diamond Creek Road cross-street was really less than two feet in front of where I was currently parked. Not noticing this small detail, I pushed forward. We (all of us) spent the next seven miles looking for the Diamond Creek cross-street before I made the command decision to turn around, go back, and look harder. Only after we had driven all of the way back to where I had led everyone astray did we notice our error. Sorry guys!


Takeaway(s): This was a great and memorable experience. The scenery/environment right down on the river was epic… and was only outdone by the terrific people that we were there with. I am normally the last one to enjoy traveling in a larger group as I am always on pins-and-needles trying to make sure that I don’t do anything to spoil anyone else’s experience. In this case, everyone was so nice that it really allowed me to just enjoy being there and soak up the whole experience.


Side note. By the looks of construction going on up and away from the river I would bet that the ability to drive down to the water’s edge and camp overnight is not something that will go on much longer (if at all). It was a great treat to have this opportunity and we would like to thank everyone involved for making this happen.



Sportsmobile Note(s): This was one of those times where having a pop-top with nearly 360 degrees of full sized, zippered and screened, windows really paid off. With all of the windows unzipped, we took advantage of each passing breeze. After having spent the past four days at the Overland Expo and seeing so many overland solutions, I (for one) was glad that our chosen solution was so configurable.