2022 Arizona Strip Adventure Recap
Southeast Nevada and Northern Arizona
March 14-19, 2022
On this adventure, we had six 4×4 vehicles: 4 Jeep Gladiators, and 2 Jeep Wrangler Unlimiteds. We explored the extreme southeast section of Nevada before moving on to the Arizona Strip.
Next is a summary of each day of the adventure from participant David Knutson. More photos from the adventure follow.
Day 1 was in Southeast Nevada, and began with a stop at a place called 7 Keyholes, which is a slot canyon with some ancient petroglyphs in Gold Butte National Monument. From there we moved on to a place called Little Finland, which has some wild rock formations. After that we stopped at the old abandoned Gold Butte townsite, and then went down a very sketchy shelf road and camped overnight on the beach at Lake Mead, where we had a phenomenal meal of Shepherd’s Pie!
Day 2 of the started out with a fantastic breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausages on the beach at Lake Mead. Then it was on to a stop at the old Lakeshore mine, before climbing back up that long, steep shelf road to exit the area. We stopped for lunch on the trail, part of which turned into a quest for the missing hot sandwich, cooked on the manifold. Our next stop was to explore the abandoned Tassi (pronounced “Tass’-eye”) ranch. What makes this ranch so unique is that it’s located at a flowing spring in the middle of the desert. It’s basically a lush oasis. Day 2 was a bit shorter than most (bread needed to be baked in a cast iron dutch oven – yumm!!!), and so we got to camp early and had a nice, relaxing evening.
Day 3 began with another fantastic breakfast at camp (cinnamon rolls, bacon and eggs!) and then we headed out to run the challenging, rocky trail in Grand Gulch Canyon. After that we visited the Grand Gulch mine site, which contains one of only 2 kilns in Arizona used in mining. Then we headed on to see the Oak Grove Cabin, a homestead from one of the earliest ranchers in the area. We also stopped at a fantastic view of the Grand Canyon, and then headed on to our camp site at Twin Point Overlook, right on the edge of the Grand Canyon!
Day 4 was…a little different. It was St. Patrick’s day, so we definitely had a green theme going on during breakfast at camp on the edge of the Grand Canyon. However, on the way to our first scenic stop, one of the rigs had a meltdown. We spent some time doing what we could to try to revive it, but to no avail. Trail boss Bob Levenhagen strap-towed the dead Gladiator 100 MILES (!!!) to the St. George, Utah Jeep dealership, while the rest of the group went on to visit the historic Mount Trumbull School House, and then to our final destination for the day, the Bar 10 Ranch. The Bar 10 is a working cattle ranch, but with a portion of it set up for hosting guests. You can even sleep in (faux) covered wagons. It’s a very unique place to stay, with an “Old West” feel, and the folks there are *extremely* friendly!
Day 5 was a travel day to get near a secret destination that was some 60 miles or so from the Bar 10 Ranch we had stayed at the previous night. That 60 miles was almost all 4-Low rocky trail, and it took the whole day just to get to the pre-selected camp site near our final scenic destination of the adventure. Here are some cool photos from the journey. And, as usual, we had a fantastic camp dinner, this time consisting of German short ribs, onions and sauer kraut as well as German potato salad.
Day 6 was, sadly, the last day. However, after another awesome camp breakfast that couldn’t be beat, the final scenic overlook (which has no name) was breathtaking. This spot is about 130 miles of rugged, rocky trail and dirt road from the nearest town, and has to be one of the most remote places in the continental United States. It is *truly* a unique spot in this great country of ours. At one unnamed spot along the way was a sign-in book. About 7 or 8 people/groups had signed in…since early 2019! It is *that* remote, and as such very, very few people have seen this view in person.
