Breaking camp in Florida this week and heading off for the Northern Kaibab NF.

Lookin' to check out that north rim country that was suggested in a recent thread.

Probably go to Jacob Lake just to purchase a Forest Service map then head off for some of the dispersed camping options that are offered there.

Anyone know what a guy might expect for backcountry forest service road conditions this year? Any snow or ice still lingering?

Any suggestion for parts less traveled to see within say a few hundred mile radius?

It'll just be me and my dog and of course my dual sport bike.
I not afraid of getting nicks and dings in the RV, I bought to use and abuse.

I'll have a indefinite amount of time to burn, just gotta make NW Montana before it snows this Fall.

WTF is up with these Aberts Squirrels they say inhabit the area?

My Border Collie is gonna go apeschit when he sees them, he loves to chase squirrels. Are they in abundance around the area?

It has been a couple of years since I was there but I've been in Kaibab a bit for climbing. It has a lot of limestone that has eroded from rushing water, so lots of inverts. Solid, great holds and a lot of them, a little loose, but a good place to practice climbing upside down.

As far as the roads go I remember them being pretty good around this time. Not much clay or silt so they drain well and dry out fast. Late April / early May is climbing season there for the few who do it, so I would expect the roads to be pretty easy.

As far as the squirrels go I remember seeing some but they aren't exactly dense. Most of the area is pretty sparse vegetation-wise so wildlife is spread around.

Lol, my uncles ears are like that.........

lolololololol

I would like a live squirrel like that for a pet.

One year in CO my uncle killed an elk in the evening and skinned and quartered it before heading to camp. The next day when he and another uncle returned to pack it out a big Aberts squirrel was up a tree by the gut pile just raising hell at them. Upon closer inspection the squirrel had dragged the elk’s pecker out of the gut pile and up the tree where he was chewing on it. They’ve since been referred to as dick eating squirrels by our hunting party.

Otherwise I don’t have much to add other than to say that the Kiabab is some beautiful country. Hope you enjoy your trip.

Kaibab Squirrels, Black on the north rim and gray on the south. Or is it the other way round.?

Roads up there are always pretty rough but should be passable. It’s some awesome country for sure!

Odd looking tree rat.

Ive got Aberts around my house in the Eastern White mtns of AZ. Drive my dog crazy.

You may want to check on forest restrictions as it is unusually very dry and where I live in the Apache Natl Forest they have already started Stage 1 fire restrictions. As long as youre in a designated campground youll probably be ok but I expect forest closures early this summer due to the drought.

Hey now son, I resemble that remark 🤔

When you are at the Jacob Lake Inn. You can see an old rifle hanging on a rack in the office behind the registration desk. I believe it’s an old savage lever action.

If I remember the story correctly it has a history associated with the place. A guy that worked there years ago owned it. I was told that there was an accidental discharge in the lodge and a new hole was added.

Beautiful country. I’d like to go back soon. Enjoy your summer!

I'll stick my head in the door just to check out the gun.

Thanks for the replies, I'm taking notes....

How about boat rental on Lake Powell?
Anyone here know of a legitimate reasonable source?

I'll warn my dog, he's reading over my shoulder anyway.

Regarding Lake Powell. Yes they have boat rentals.
https://www.lakepowell.com/marinas/powerboat-watercraft-rentals/

If you are going to visit this Lake you must explore some. Lots of side canyons worth seeing. Rainbow bridge may be worth seeing but it generally a magnet for all who visit the lake. With the water low there will be a 1 1/4 mile hike to get to it.

IMO the best way to get the feel for Powell is to camp somewhere near Dangling Rope marina in one of the many side canyons. Stripers and smallmouth bass and the occasional largemouth and walleye can be caught. You can troll and will usually pic up a striper from time to time.

There are some good books on this lake that will tell you where to see cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and even dinosaur tracks. I like the boater's guide to Lake Powell.



Good luck on your adventure going north!

Is there much for camping opportunities near the water without a boat?

expect fire bans as mentioned as with all the west

Big fire went through Jacob's Lake last summer

Have fun, Jeff!

We'll try our best..

Saw the damage going to the north rim. Wasn’t sure when the fire had been.

Those squirrels are uber cool.

I recall posts from someone here who does a hunt for them every year.

Fishing on Powell for stripers and small mouth then hit the mountains for some camping and squirrel hunting!

there is a dirt road accross from the general store other side of the paved road. take that to the east runs off the plateau and mesa. knarley road and steep comes in behind the az game and fish buffalo ranch. would be a good dirt bike ridel

Thanks Ron, I'll watch for that.
That bike has gotten me to some really nice places.

Just had it a year now and been cranking up the miles.

Windy in the Kaibab, put the little POS Ryobi 14 inch firewood saw to the test yesterday.





It did well, got us out of the spot we were in anyway.

The remote camping is great.
Plenty of room to get off by yourself.
Setting here looking out over a burn area at the moment, lots of mule deer kicking around, a few coyotes as well. They had the dog worked up yapping all night on the ridge across from us.




More later...

Awesome, gods country.

I've bowhunted there several times. It ain't wrecked yet.

If that cutting was done with that little saw I would suggest you have a fair bit of time with a saw behind you!

Jeff, looks like a good trip, I'll bet the pup is loving that country, hopefully he'll catch a black squirrel or two.

They'll be doing that cull hunt for the bison, on the park at the south end of the plateau. Maybe you can get hooked you up with some fresh meat for your camp.

Brand new chain was the saving grace.
That and having a strong young college kid along for the ride.

Nice work with that chain saw.

Took a little ride to the next ridge over from where I am sitting with the RV.

Still haven't seen one of those long eared squirrels that are suppose to be around these parts.

keep in mind there are bears/cats in the area. navajo's and the utes use to fight over that area recommend the dirt road off the paved road going to the n orth rim starts almost at the canyon and paraells to the west the canyon, comes to a point. almost always no people. deer all over the place and deer.
if you want to drive up to kanab utah, not far, stop at the animal rescue place probably 3 or 4 thousand dogs there.
in downtown kanab is a mexican restaurant good food.
bunch of pictures on wall as many westerns filmed around there, including joseywales.
there is another dirt road starting in fredonia goes all way to the canyon. first rate
iilled a few turkey off that road.

You are in some great country and, as you have found, snow remains not an issue by this time. There are some big Mule Deer around you.

Those Abert squirrels picked up the name "Kaibab" due to their common presence there, but they are found all down through the tail end of the Rockies - down as far as the Gila NF in central NM. Noisy little buggers and some years they appear in droves - shot over 30 just on our place one year. Fancy tails.

If you like fishing, Powell is good at this time. and Panguitch Lake northward from Kanab is great for trout. "Panguitch" supposedly is Southern Paiute for "big 'fish".

Bryce and Zion are nearby - both are striking park scenery. Vermillion Cliffs are north of you along the highway. Used to be a manufacturer of very good TC barrels in Hurricane. - maybe still.

Have fun.

Still looking for those Abert Squirrels, notta sign of one yet.

When into Kanab this afternoon, restocked on fresh foods and headed north.

Found some free remote camping for the night above Navajo Lake in the Dixie National Forest.

escalante, boulder and torrey are small towns along the southern and eastern edge of the Dixie, beautiful country. Getting close to Tikkanut country too!

I see them on the map, no plans just taking it a day at a time.

The links you sent me for the Kaibab NF came in real handy.
Forest Service offices are locked up tight, don't even look as if they plan to open so no maps from them.

Checked in the store at Jacob Lake to see if they tossed some maps over there but no such luck. They did burn me for 4 bucks a gallon on gas at the station there, 2.90s to low 3s everywhere else.

Managed to download the maps for all 4 ranger districts in the Dixie NF.

Kaibab Forest Service is really sending a lot of mixed messages.
All there signage states all FS roads closed, but it's all the signs they posted last year during the Mangum fire.

We drove all over the place and camped remote every night.
Just saw a few others on the dirt roads, 3 others camping in different areas. Forest Service Fire Crew passed by our camps a couple times with a nod and a wave.

We layed a lot of first tracks for the year out there.

Not too many folks around Dixie NF so far either.
Their pay campgrounds around Navajo Lake don't open until tomorrow.

Look for fresh pine branch cuttings under those trees. Just the tips as I recall. Those squirrels can just hang up in the tree you're walking under and you'd never know they're there. At least the ones further south in the White Mountains were that way.

Find some fresh cuttings and find a place to sit and watch. They may even come out to yack at you. They did when I was hunting for something else. Them and the dang "chipmunks".

Enjoyed the pics.......continue having fun and post some more.

Jeff, I hunted turkey up there in the fall prior to the magnum fire, I saw plenty of those black aberts along the 22 road, near the intersection with the 274 road, but it appears that the magnum fire might’ve burned that country, so it may not be good habitat anymore.

Escobar's is the Mexican food joint.......in Kanab @ 373 E 300 S

Be advised they have a weird schedule....

closed Tuesday's & Saturday.....WTF ?

Really good chow & cold beer

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Escobars-Mexican-Restaurant/113995845297732?ref=br_rs

shhhhh

That area is full of tourists this time of year

I take the less traveled ways

I am thinking the lack of seeing an Abert squirrel or even any sign of them is fire related. We've looked long and hard walking out timbered ridge tops, a couple hundred miles on the bike as well as driving the RV down a lot of dirt roads and have not seen one.

Been seeing lots of Mule deer a few coyotes and some ground squirrels. Running to the tree tops for safety may not have served them well during the fire.

Over all the Kaibab has proven to be a great spot to camp for a while.
The lack of people really adds a lot to it for me.
Once you get away from the more popular destinations there's no one.

The remote camping options are abundant and free.
If anyone was considering such a trip FS road 225 near Jacob Lake has treated us well. Any rig can safely navigate the road, it's about a 5 mile loop with plenty of level ground.
If you had a 40 ft fifthwheel pulling a boat behind you'd do fine.

I've seen 3 other campers along the road in the last week.







Our camp sites have been large, level and private.
Anywhere within 300ft either side of the road is legal.
A few of the spur roads off of 225 are legal to camp along as well.

There are many other roads throughout the forest where remote camping is also allowed so your options are endless.

The sights along the way are spectacular.

Too late Tikkanut, just woke up on a little ridge above Navajo Lake in the Dixie NF.
Reviewing the maps now for my next plan of attack.

Nice travelogue - you sure are stirring memories of a bunch of time I spent up there in the mid-1960s through 1990s. Fabulous country for lone wolves.

Great travels Jeff! Thanks for the posts.

that's the place i was talking about. always eat there when in the neighborhood.

that looks like the beginning of the way into rattlesnake canyon, a way to get into the canyonl. the corral pictures.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/kaibab/maps-pubs/?cid=fseprd490027
one thing not mentioned is there are a lot of dirt roads up there. a lot of them now you are not suppose to be on, restricted.
there is a forest service map showing allowed roads.
pizzes me off mightily to see forest service people joy riding on roads i cannot use now.
the approved roads are not marked b y the wa y, have to use the map.

fredonia use to be called short creek. early 50's a arizona governer called out the national guard and highway patrol to arrest fundementalist mormons in the area for multiple wives. use to be common to build a hous straddling the utah/arizona state line, cops show up, move across the living room.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Creek_raid
in more recent times, same raids on fundelmentalists living in the area like hurricaine, and others.
few years ago i was up there, a guy had a contract with the forest service for brush cuttins. was using illegal wetbacks for the job. how special.
center for biological diversity had also put out a bunch of these little bird houses for the spotted azz owls in case they showed up.

We haven't been eating out much, stopped in Santa Fe at a little butcher shop I knew of that ages their own beef.
Loaded up with Ribeyes, New York strips and Porterhouse steaks.
Always have Salmon on board so we been doing a good bit of grilling.

I did stop in Kanab and stocked up with fresh produce, so we're good to go with chow.

Some pretty colorful rock in the canyons around here in the Dixie NF.



Found some remote creekside camping for tonight at 10k feet of elevation.



We're right near a small lake named Dead Lake.
Not a soul around, got it all to ourselves.



With the clear skies the little bit of solar system I added to this rig is keeping the battery pak at 13.7 volts without any problem.
It's only 240 watts of panels.



Pretty amazing I'm able to upload these images from my phone in these remote locations. The last few were a bit of a challenge but it happened.
I'm thinking our elevation is helping.

Nice!
Beautiful country to be grilling steaks in!

Should be far gone as far as snowmelt is concerned. I'd get there as fast as possible because even at 7000 plus feet, it can certainly get warm starting around Memorial Day. But then, the warm is relative, as you're coming from Florida, it might be "just right." Weather in the Flathead hasn't quite turned the corner yet.

Still some drifts around in these higher elevations.

only we know

although...........

not many snow drifts even on north faces..............

very bleak snow pack any where in the west......

The lakes and reservoirs look half full.

The Az strip from Kanab to St. George/ Virgin River is pretty cool. Mt.Trumbull and the NPS campground on the Grand Canyon are worth a look.Lake Powell from a boat is pretty awesome. they have kayak rentals around Page which offers a different perspective.

Note: leaving your vehicle unattended anywhere w/in 50 miles of Lake Powell will result in an empty gas tank


mike r

It's been 5-6 years since we were through Kaibab/North Rim and a bit longer since we were through St.George and Richfield. It's all beautiful country and the photos stir happy memories of it. Thanks Jeff.

Jeff, so glad you're enjoying yourselves.

10k'? Dang should still be cold up there, no? Getting down around freezing here at about 1/2 that elevation. Of course, 800 or so miles north I think.

Keep up the pics!

I don't doubt that one bit.

The boat rental outfit at the marina burns you down for over 7 bucks a gallon to re-fill their boats after you return the rentals.

Lots of folks hauling trailers loaded with 5 gallon jugs of gas to keep their own boats fueled up. Some appeared to be pushing DOT legal limits.



It's been relaxing, took the bike out for a long ride after dinner last evening and didn't see anyone along the way. No vehicles have passed by camp here either.

I get up at about 5:30 every morning for coffee, it's been mid to upper 30s every morning, just had ice one morning so far.

Scanning a few different local weather forecasts yesterday indicated it was going to step up 10 degrees across the board for highs and lows.
I had my doubts about that being our reality due to our present elevation but lo and behold it was 47.5 when I started my coffee this morning at 5:30am.
Humidity is in the teens, windows and front door open, the mutt is down playing in the creek. 10 degree increase goes a long ways.

Maybe that warmth is what's heading our way.

Frost here again this morning. Light one though. But supposed to have lows in the 40's later this week. Good thing, as I have some starts to get in the garden!

You sure are doing it right and getting the best of that country. Thanks for the notes and photos - memories running.

Not to easy to post from this high country, rare chance to be able to connect.
More later, maybe...

Great pic.

Widh i had loggedon earlier and see this, i coulda pointed you into some neat stuff to see up there. That 22 road is always decent to travel and you can take some roads to different outlooks of the canyon. I lovecit up there. Thanks for sharing pics.

Kique

Livin the high life, Keep the pics coming!

I'll take any info I can get, post away it's all relevant to the thread title.

Plan on coming back this way in the Fall after spending the summer in Montana.

Just spent 45 minutes trying to upload a couple images.
Haven't seen pavement for a couple days, just touring the back roads.

Woke up here this morning.


The view out the window for coffee.


49 degrees and no one around.

Love this thread. Thanks for taking the time to upload pics. I'm living vicariously through your pics.

Nice pics!
Looks like a great place to relax and recreate

Still camping at higher elevations, @ 9750 ft we found this alpine lake last night along a ten mile loop road. Not much of a lake but it was all ours, the dog enjoyed it..
Good bit of snow still laying under the trees




Got a little sketchy getting out of there.
Dropped down the north side of the ridge for the last two miles of decent and started getting into some deeper drifts across the road.

Blew through about 100 feet of 3 foot deep drift, notta problem heading down hill. Had about 100 yards of clear gravel road then came to a 2 ft deep creek that ran across the road that had a steep drop off to get across.

Found a wide spot and stopped to contemplate our situation.
We moved a couple rocks out of the way and baja'ed the creek.
Didn't want to try climbing up the road through the drif we'd came down through, it was only a mile and a half from a paved road in that direction anyway.

First turn we made after the creek crossing we were looking at this.



We unloaded the bike and scouted ahead.
About a quarter mile of 2 to 4 foot deep drifts, one after another.

Side by sides had been through so what the heck, buckled up and went like hell.

This ain't no pavement princess we're driving, but the dogs starting to think we're crazy.

Bike looks good, Jeff.

Put about 400 miles on it so far this trip.

As opposed to the 'Sanguitch', which is Southern Paiute for their little known, early version of the Filet-O-Fish.

Sorry. Paul. I fought it but couldn't stop myself.

Jeff, looks like a fun time and thanks for taking us along. You get around, for sure.

U prob wanna stay now eh ?

Bombing through spring snowbanks in a class c motorhome gives a platinum version of a man card...... woohooo .....

Oh hell no.

Maybe if I decide to become a Mormon some day but that's doubtful.

It is nice country but Montana has it beat by a long shot so you're safe.

I'm just on my way to spend the summer in Northwest Montana as I do every summer, just like to take my time and check things out along the way.

I'll come back this way in the Fall and take another look about.

Nice.

Maybe not this trip but you should try to get to Muley Point above the Goosenecks of the San Juan. It has been "discovered" by Them, so try to go in an off season time.

I can show ya a sorta special place (to me) on UR return trip----

But you'll have to pass through Utah with all the Mormons & Hippies

dammmit Ranger.........

quit giving away our secret spots..........

Might take you up on the offer, always enjoy new country.

4x4 road might not be as wide as your bus............

Only thing I tore off it this trip (so far) is a hub cap, but that was due to I-40 being rough as a cob.
Just replaced the one on the other side that flew off on I-75 in Atlanta last Fall.

When I get into Kalispell I'll park it by the shop and give it a good look over.

Biggest problem on those roads is bottoming the hitch receiver out. My backup camera is looking right at the bike so it's a good indicator if anything gets bent back there but I've plowed a lot of dirt road with it.

The glass siding is just one big scratch, lots of miles of skinny roads with the mirrors folded in. I see branches and limbs fall off the roof occasionally. Awning supports are tough, they snap off big branches no problem, always a few leaf's and twigs hanging from them.

I am impressed.... I like to do the same type of thing, but I have Ram 3500 4x4 with a cabover camper, with a big winch on the front....
I must admit last year I was trying to get to the Yaak the back way and chickened out at the snowdrifts....
Thanks for posting your trip, I am headed that way in Sept.

The sheer weight of this beast offers a lot of traction in snow as well as loose rock.
Just can't be afraid to drive it.
I don't have a lot invested in it, picked it up with 19k miles on it and it runs like a scalded dog.

I have hammered through many winter snowdrifts with a 2wd, speed and momentum are your friend, just expect zero visibility for a few..... but spring snow drifts are a different animal. The good part if they are short in length you can always shovel your through them.
Anyhow to do that in a class c in a remote location shows hutzpah.... well done...

Decided to push a little further north and found some more free camping in some more high elevation country last night.



Had to hit the pavement but managed to stay on National Forest land most the way.
That's been the goal, traveling NF land as often as we can while heading north.

Right after we jumped on I-15 we saw a half ton Chevy pulling a medium sized 5th wheel burned down, it was surrounded by fire trucks right in the middle of the road. The camper was OK but there wasn't much left of the truck.
Flames must of just burst through the firewall, he shut it down dead center of the right hand lane.

We found a paved road that might interest some of you.
Good free camping both sides the road and in gorgeous country.



If you want to put your truck to the test while pulling a RV this would be the place.



It's a great drive with good camping along the streams or mountain tops, whichever suits you best.



Who the hell would come way up here to steal a cow?