The Kaibab and the North Rim

The Kaibab

Had lived in Arizona for fifteen years before I made my first trip to the Kaibab National Forest and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. What I had missed! How much richer the intervening years might have been had the loveliness of that region come into my experience earlier. As I write today at Kaibab Lodge Í look out over a wide mountain meadow where I can see many deer coming out to graze from the edges of the surrounding forest of aspen, spruce and pine. Too, over ten species of bird life paused long enough for identification this morning. Just now the woods are full of them, and the merry notes set the tempo of the oratorio of nature's joy and gladness. What idyllic living in this Alpine retreat! To reach this place of summer superbness in Northern Arizona you follow U.S. 89 north from the junction with U.S. 66 east of Flagstaff (or as I did to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon via Williams, thence east from El Tovar to Desert View and on to the junction south of Cameron). From the junction with 66 the road points north through a farming area of rich volcanic ash, climbing on to a high ridge of great ponderosa pine forest, passing, to the right, a distinct cone-shaped mountain, now Sunset Crater National Monument, one of the most recent active volcanos of the region.

After gaining the height of the divide, one gains a view of a wide, colorful terrain sloping to the Little Colorado River, from which, too, one glimpses the mesaland of the Hopi villages and the first view of the Painted Desert. One clearly sees the vast tableland out of which the canyons of the Colorado River have been formed. Driving down this lovely, long slope one notices a sign pointing to Wupatki National Monument, a well preserved, ancient ruin, some fifteen miles to the east.

Continuing over the great plain you come to several interesting trading posts such as Gray Mountain, all of which are exciting interludes, and since they all have modern gas stations add security to travel along this route. Just a short distance south of Cameron the road traversing the South Rim of Grand Canyon meets highway 89. Cameron is an oasis in the desert, on the bank of the Little Colorado, where the highway crosses the canyon of this stream via the world's highest regular highway suspension bridge. Crossing the bridge is itself a thrill of no small shiver.

On you go, climbing from the Little Colorado into a western portion of the Painted Desert, a magically colored wonderland of forms of ancient sand dunes, now eroded and displaying the eons of deposited sand turned to stone under the weight of later deposits, as the area has risen and fallen to rise again in the millions of years of the earth's history. Here for a distance of twenty miles you will see on the western horizon, Shadow Mountain always appearing draped in shadows at its summit, and long a landmark in this land of many terrors to early travellers.

Passing through the Painted Desert to approach the foothills spotted with junipers (wrongly called cedars by many) and soon you will see the isolated Navajo hogans and these nomadic peoples, tending the small bands of sheep grazing along the washes and arroyos. In July the life of these people, people, since most of their activities are outof-doors, is easily viewed by the traveller. Along the roadside one notes small fields of Indian corn on each of the sandy bars of the washes (dry creek beds that at certain seasons carry large volume of water). You should notice that these fields are carefully designed and that the corn has been planted in large hills of several stalks each. Your knowledge of corn planting, if you are from the "corn belt," will question this method of planting. However, the Indian is wise to the ways of a dry, wind-swept land, and so his planting method is for a distinct purpose. These hills of corn are six feet apart in each direction. Each hill is circular in form with the outer stalks surrounding a center stalk. The arrangement, first is to adequately distribute the planting in arid ground, and second the hill pattern is for the purpose of giving protection from the cutting, sand-carrying wind to the center stalk, which is the only one counted upon to bear a yield. In the midst of this fascinating land one comes upon a couple more trading posts-The Gap, with very inviting accommodations for meals and lodging, and Cedar Ridge with the Navajos gathered around the post most of the time. A short or extended pause will be rewarding.

and The North Rim

Progressing toward Marble Canyon of the Colorado, Echo Cliffs come into view and a moment's pause by the roadside for a vocal ejaculation over the thrill thus far experienced will tell you that these cliffs are properly named. Now you approach Navajo Bridge spanning Marble Canyon, which in a real sense linked together the state of Arizona, replacing the old Lee's Ferry and the Colorado "dug-way." After crossing this high, narrow bridge you will desire to stop at the parkway and look down into this infant tributary canyon of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, which you will see later from points on the North Rim. Just beyond the parkway is Marble Canyon Lodge with its inviting hospitality and reasonable rates. Some will desire to take the short side trip of six miles to old Lee's Ferry on the very banks of the Colorado River. The stories about the old Ferry and of John D. Lee are legend, and this place was one of great importance in early Mormon and Arizona history. Passing alongside the brilliant Vermilion Cliffs one comes soon to the Cliff Dwellers, where Art Greene welcomes visitors in unique lodgings nestling near the Cliffs. Incidentally, Art is the fellow who directs boat trips up the Colorado, and time permitting, this could be a delightful side excursion included in your visit.

Continuing along the colorful cliffs one moves toward beautiful, pastorale House Rock Valley where the range is shared by a state owned buffalo herd and many head of Hereford cattle. You may be able to see some of the buffalo but at times they drift far from the area traversed by the highway. Before reaching House Rock Valley you will cross, almost unnoticed, two little creeks. One is called Badger Creek and the other Soap Creek. The little creeks are not very important save for a good story that relates to the incidents of their naming. It seems that many years ago this region was grazed by some very large bands of sheep. Since the range was isolated it would be long periods between times when the supply wagons would come along to replenish the needs of the herders. At this particular time two herders had been without beans and bacon for a long time, and had, of course, been eating mutton, the only commodity they had in abundance. One day, as they approached a little wash, they came upon a badger, and immediately decided that even this would be a change in diet for a day. They killed and dressed the badger and put him in a pot to boil. They boiled it all day, but at evening the badger was still too tough to eat. The next morning they moved camp, and determined to have something to eat besides mutton, they carried the badger along for another attempt at boiling. This day they made camp at another creek where there was a water supply. They immediately filled the pot and put the badger back on the fire to boil. As the water boiled low during the day they added more from the creek. The badger had been very fat, and the water supply was loaded with gypsum. At night the herders made a ter-rific discovery. Upon taking the lid from the pot they found it filled with soap. The fat of the badger and the gypsum of the water had produced this phenomena. Thus one creek even today is known as Badger Creek and the other as Soap Creek, and there are men alive who affirm this story of the naming of the creeks.

From House Rock Valley you ascend through the junipers and pinons to the Kaibab Plateau. The tall western yellow (ponderos) pines dominate the scene, with the open spaces indicating an old, virgin forest. You now want to know (everyone asks it), "What does Kaibab mean?" Kaibab is a Paiute Indian word meaning "moun-tain resting" or "mountain lying down." The region is well named since it is a very large plateau forty miles east to west and sixty miles north to south, and rises far above all the surrounding country to an altitude of 9100 feet.

Here on the Kaibab Plateau is the largest virgin forest remaining in the United States (probably the world), and this forest shelters the largest herd of mule tail deer in the world, numbering thousands of head. You can now joyously anticipate the rapture that is to be yours in the Kaibab.

Soon you are at Jacob Lake where Bowman's commodious Jacob Lake Lodge, equipped to serve all the traveller's needs, invites you and where the scent from the ponderosa pines fills your nostrils with a wholesome head-clearing aroma, and you breath in deep and full. Here Highway 67 beckons you southward into the very heart of Kaibab National Forest and to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

While there are no large lakes in the area, the entire region is underlain with limestone, and thus there are many lime sinks, that in turn form the basins for many small natural bodies of water. These are often nestled among the trees or on the meadows in such a way as to make settings of great beauty as the wild animals come to them "as harts panting after the water brooks."

Leaving Jacob Lake on Highway 67 you continue to drive along aisles cut among the ponderosa pine, and as you gain altitude you will come to stands of aspen (the nurture cover for the evergreens), the blue and Engelmen spruce. Soon the panorama of tall white aspens flanked by the more towering spruce weaves for you a pattern of spectacular fantasy. Driving here one night after a heavy rain and with some lingering fog, the head lights of the car gave to these spruce a phosphorescence thatmade the land a Christmas fairyland with deer darting in and out the shadows. Then there breaks through, as you approach a hillcrest, an enthralling vista of a mountain meadow of lush grass, the green carpetry against which appear patterned splotches of various colored flowersthe red paintbrush, purple asters, white and pink mountain daisies, the yellow flowers of a rubber plant, and the blue pentstemon and lupin. I found twenty varieties in a ten minute walk one July afternoon. All of this view leading away to a jutting meadow enclosure of the intermingled white, green and silver-blue of the aspens and the spruce.

Kaibab Lodge

As you drive the length of these Alpine parks you will gain added pleasure of seeing graceful deer pause in the daily activities of life in this mountain Eden, to give you an honest, inquisitive glance; or startled leave the scene with stiff-legged bounding grace that so elegantly characterizes its nature. Lovely in its natural setting, but forlorn in a zoo is the deer of the forest mountains.

On the old V. T. Meadow, about twenty-five miles south of Jacob Lake, is a cluster of buildings to the right, nestling at the edge of the forest. As you approach this place you may find that meal time has come, we did, and the urge to eat and the inviting quiet beauty of Kaibab Lodge will lure you to stop and bide awhile. Birds will greet you with a song. A playful chipmunk will entice your interest. The deer may be seen from the dining room windows as you eat a delightful repast in these pleasant surroundings. You will want to linger here in this place of natural recuperative quiet, and when you leave it will be with a promise to yourself to return, after you go on to see the greatest natural panoramic wonder of the world-the Grand Canyon of Arizona.

Five miles from Kaibab Lodge is the North Rim checking station for the Grand Canyon National Park. There you will be courteously received by a Park Ranger. For another twelve miles you will pass through old Robbers Roost Canyon, over Lindberg Hill, and through Thompson Canyon until you near the North Rim. Here the Utah Parks Company maintain very excellent accommodations for travellers. Grand Canyon Lodge on Bright Angel Point, with the big sun room that is projected out to the very edge of the Canyon Rim, will give you your first glimpse of the vast array of colorful mountains submerged within the gorge of this vast river canyon. You will pause with a thrill, whether or not you have seen the Canyon before, and you will soon go out on the adjacent porches to gain other perspectives of this spectacle of awe and inspiration. It is best not to attempt a description of Grand Canyon, because it eludes words. You are engulfed with a feeling no words can relate. Your stay at the North Rim will be enhanced if you will go on the guided nature trip in the morning, where the ranger-naturalist will give you information of vital concern, if you are to understand the "hows and whys" of the area. Too, you should drive to Imperial Point and Cape Royal, twenty-three miles from Grand Canyon Lodge over a very good paved road and through the ever beautiful forests, where you gain another fine vantage point from which to view the Canyon of wonders and changing hues. Here a naturalist gives an excellent talk on the geology of the Grand Canyon. You will profit by a trip to the Museum where you will be acquainted with the fauna and flora of the Park. Each evening the naturalist gives an interpretive talk, following the showing of motion pictures of the area by the Utah Parks Company, and afterwards the Collegiate Show is presented by the Lodge employees, college students employed there for the summer season to do almost all of the work at the Lodge. Of course, we are reminded that the North Rim is accessible only during the period from May 15th to November 15th each year, while the South Rim is open to visitors the entire year. This summer season arrangement lends itself to the employment of college students, who give fine service to all at Grand Canyon Lodge as well as furnish excellent entertainment each evening.

Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim

The Park abounds in wild life. Only here is found the white-tailed Kaibab squirrel. If you are one who will venture from paved roads, Point Sublime offers you another gorgeous panorama of the Canyon at a more westerly observation point. This road, some sixteen miles long, leads from a point near the checking station through the vast forest of ponderosa pine, aspen and spruce. The road is narrow and winding purposely. It is to make available a road in the Park maintained at as near a primitive state as possible and yet afford safe travel. The deer and other forms of wild life here are abundant. Here I saw the finest specimens of great antlered buck, who since the area is protected are not easily frightened. Along the way we found seven older bucks with antlered heads grazing in one small meadow. This is a good place to point out that all driving in the entire area must be done with caution. The deer may cross your path at almost any place. To collide with one is not only wantonly destructive of wild life, but can be exceedingly costly in delay and repairs. Such an affair invariably brings considerable damage to the car. Drive carefully in Grand Canyon National Park and Kaibab National Forest-the signs you see are reasonable and obeying them will make your trip more enjoyable. Your stay at Grand Canyon can be prolonged with pleasure as long as your time will permit, but the time will come when you must depart. Then, as the collegians sing to the Dudes (those who travel via Union Pacific Busses) when they depart, and as you will long recall, “memories will linger always.” In our own case we established headquarters at Kai-bab Lodge and spent ten days in the area. In this way we became alive not alone to Grand Canyon but to the whole vast region. At night, sitting in front of the mammoth fireplace piled high with burning logs (it is always cool enough for a fire at night), we learned some of the interesting facts from Carl Cox, who as a ranger and oper-ator has been here thirty years. During the days we could drive to remote places, become familiar with the bird life, look for flowers in the meadow, and watch the doe bring the fawn out from the woods to play as the sun rays pushed out long finger-like shadows to blanket the meadow.Near Kaibab Lodge is a forest road leading to Big Springs and an old log cabin where Theodore Roosevelt lived while hunting with Jimmy Owens, during his years as President of the United States when he came to the Kaibab. This cabin reminds us of the fine hunting in the Kaibab and of Uncle Jimmy Owens. This is a mecca for hunters out after the deer. Here there are few disappoint-ments for the hunter, because the deer are numerous and the terrain not impossible for man. Though the Kaibab is a natural habitat for them deer have not always been numerous here. This fact brings us again to Uncle Jimmy Owens, trapper, hunter, and friend of Theodore Roose-velt, who in turn was a dynamic friend of the western conservationists and wild life enthusiasts.

When the cattlemen of House Rock Valley first began using the Kaibab as a summer range it was discovered that the loss of calves to the cougar was considerable. These same cougar in the days before the cattlemen had been attracted to the area and had, by their killing activities, kept the deer herds comparatively small in the area. Now, at the behest of the cattlemen, the United States government hired Jimmy Owens to hunt and trap the cougar. In a few short years he had been so success-ful as to almost eliminate the cougar from the Kaibab, much to the satisfaction of the cattlemen. But now de-veloped an unforeseen event. The killing of the cougar took away the enemy of the deer and they increased in numbers so fast that soon it became necessary to reduce the number of cattle permitted on the Forest due to the limitation of vegetation. The cougars were gone. The deer increased. The whole affair threw the natural balance of economy off, and thus the abundance of deer in the Kaibab. At the present time the cougar are on the increase, though rare is the visitor who sees one. Bears are unheard of here, due to the desert region surrounding the Plateau which makes travel to reach it too difficult for them.

The deer became so numerous in the Kaibab, and at the same time so scarce on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, that it was decided it would be a good thing to deplete these numbers by moving some of them to the South Rim. The United States government offered $5.00 per head for deer thus re-located. One cow-man conceived the idea, that could have made him a millionaire, since there was need to move 75,000 deer, if only the deer had co-operated. His idea was to gather cowboys and Indians on the North Rim area and to stage a deer drive. The deer would be driven to the trail at the North Rim, drive them down into the Canyon, swim them across the Colorado River there, then herd them up the Canyon on to the South Rim. For more than two weeks the crowd gathered to join in the drive. The day to begin came. Men were placed within view of each other, some had guns, others pans or most anything with which to make a noise to scare the deer. Hundreds of men participated, but when the drivers came to the Rim there was not a single deer to herd into the Canyon. About the only lesson learned seems to have been that deer can not be driven where they do not want to go. Thus the deer are still in the Kaibab, to intrigue the hunter each fall when the open season permits hunting in the Kaibab.

In the midst of the Kaibab, at the V. T. Meadow, the Forest Service has set aside some lots for the use of those desiring to build private summer cabins.

Near these cabins is a trail leading into a remote, un-conquered part of the Kaibab. The trail leads to Thunder River. This trail can be manipulated only on foot or with pack train. The trip requires two days down and two days back. Only the hardiest should attempt it, and only then with a good guide and complete equipment. Once there, on the banks of Thunder River, you will make your catch of fine trout in a matter of minutes. This haven of the wily trout is probably one of the few streams in all of Arizona that is not over fished. For the out-of-doors man of hardy endurance Thunder River will be a feat and a thrill.

Into this land of enchantment came Zane Grey. From its bosom came two of his renowned stories, “Man of the Forest” and “Robbers Roost.” Robbers Roost Canyon is so named, according to stories still prevalent here, because in a bygone time there was a group of robbers who used the canyon as a hideout. It is told that during the months of the open season they would gather in sufficient supplies to carry them through the winter fastness, that after all these stores were taken to the cabins in the forest canyon, that they would fare forth into southern Utah and there in a few days go on a rampage of looting and bank robberies. Soon they would be lost and would “hole up” for the winter in this canyon. By spring the trails of the robbers would be dim, and the passing time would have removed some of the ardor of the posses, and they could drift back into the life of the region. This was done, or so it is said, year after year with apparent suc-cess. The now fallen cabins lie in decay, but among the growing aspen is the mute testimony of a chapter in northern Arizona history now forgotten.

Coming back to the moment, I look out to see giant thunderheads rolling in above the forest, indicative of the July-August rains. The pictorialists would warm to the opportunity today with these clouds adding to the beauty of the green and white studded landscape. Just under my window the birds are rioting around a bird bath of natural God-hewn stone. Yesterday I noted the Western Tanager, Western Evening Grosbeak, Mountain Blue Bird, Clark Nutcracker, Hermit Thrush, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, Audubon Warbler, Steller's Jay, Western Robin, and Crossbill, as well as the hawks “that circle down the breeze,” and the large raven on the meadow. Here, also, are Swifts, later in the season Juncos, Yellowheaded Blackbirds, sparrows-including the beautiful Gambel Sparrow-and the winter Chickadees. Adding another note to the cheerfulness of this place are the tree squirrels that chatter at you from the limbs of the spruce, the smaller ground squirrels that play around the corners, andthe saucy little chipmunks that tease you with their coy friendliness. Adding a lament to the night enfolding the day is the call of the coyote from a distant hill.

With the coming of the rains the meadows will change in color weekly, from blue to purple to yellow, as the various summer flowers come to full bloom. In September the aspen add their glorious golden glow to the landscape. Thus from May until the coming of the snows in November this paradise of color and wildlife calls to the lover of nature to come and bide awhile. I can readily understand and sense the poignancy of the incident told me by Carl Cox, as we sat and watched the birds and looked out upon the peaceful meadow. Some years ago he had a letter from a woman living in California requesting him to advise by wire at the time the aspen would be at the very height of their glorious fall display. As that time came he sent her word. Soon she arrived by car. She told this story. She had earlier visited the area with her family at a time when she was blind. She had heard the description of the idyllic setting, and their futile attempts to picture the beauty and glory of the fall in the Kaibab. She recently had regained her sight. The one thing she wanted to see most and to behold with her own eyes was this scene. She came and was thrilled as she had anticipated. As she was leaving she said this, "I am certain to lose my sight again, but I have seen the aspen of Arizona in glorious fall array. I am going now to see some other places before it is too late, but having seen this I can carry it with me to lighten my way when the darkness again overtakes me."