Kaibab National Forest, AZ
We were finally able to see family amid the 2020 Coronavirus quarantine! The Lautzenheiser family hailing from Nevada, Utah, and Arizona met in the Kaibab National Forest just North of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for a Memorial Day weekend adventure!
The Lautzenheisers! With Miles and me taking the picture!
Day One: We arrived a day later than everyone else as Scott was working and we needed a day to pack up everything but the kitchen sink to bring it to the forest. We arrived at the campsite scouted out by Duane and set up our popup (unlike last time) without any issues…hooray! Evan and Tyler were able to meet Miles for the first time and we had hoped Ella would begin the process of warming up to everyone.
Although the North Rim was still closed, there were plenty of forest service roads that allowed us to access views of the canyon. The first day, we set out to drive to Fire Point, a beautiful spot outside of the park. We were not too far from the lookout when we saw the road was closed with a sign that told us the area was closed for regrowth from a recent fire. As you can imagine, after driving almost an hour, we were bummed. With fantastically marked roads, we decided to backtrack a bit and find a road that cut north to another lookout. This is where we came across, not one, not two, but three trees blocking the road. My thought, was, “Bummer, we’ll have to turn around and try another way,” but that is not how the Lautzeheiser boys think. With a winch on Evan’s jeep and a snatch block, the guys decided to move the trees for everyone. After about 30 minutes, we were on the road again and eventually made it to Timp Point! Yay! Success. Unfortunately, the lookout was too far for Marcia to walk and we had an overtired toddler on our hands. Needless to say, we didn’t get to see much of the grandness of the canyon.
The next day, instead of driving West, we chose to head East to an East Rim View and Saddleback Mtn. Both were perfect locations with only small amount of necessary walking to see the lookouts. The Grand Canyon is just as impressive every time!
After the kids would go to bed, which was never an easy task, we would spend the cold evenings chatting around a campfire (a propane one, as wood burning firearms were off limits). Unfortunately, the last evening in the trailer was a wee bit cold as the battery had died on the trailer so the furnace ran out of power. Fortunately, Scott is always prepared and we (I mean, he) hooked up a separate propane heater to keep everyone warm. While we learned three days is the limit for the trailer batter without being recharged, we also learned three days is about the limit for our water tank too. With multiple baths and showers, this isn’t that surprising; although I was confused when mid shampoo the nozzle started sputtering. Even though it’s sometimes frustrating, we wouldn’t be able to learn the trailer’s limits without a little trial and error.