Road Trip: Pipe Spring & the North Rim

June 28, 2015

Our second day of the road trip had us making a moderate drive from Las Vegas to the North rim of the Grand Canyon.  Along the way we stopped at Pipe Spring National Monument.  We took Interstate 15 up into Utah then drove Highway 89 down to Jacob Lake where we camped for the night after a brief visit to see some of the sights on the less-traveled side of the Grand Canyon.

Somewhere in Utah

Pipe Spring is an interesting little monument.  There are no wonderful natural features there.  In fact, it's really a museum of an old Mormon fort.  I'm using "fort" in loose terms.  It's much too small to have ever been used as a military station.  The fort buildings are called Winsor Castle, which is equally misleading.  It's basically side-by-side two-story sandstone buildings with gated walls connecting them.  One building is where the family that maintained the place lived, the other is where cheese and butter were stored and maintained.

Winsor Castle, Pipe Spring National Monument, AZ

Yes, it was basically a semi-fortified Mormon dairy farm that has been deemed a national treasure.

Winsor Castle, Pipe Spring National Monument, AZ

Pipe Spring National Monument, AZ

Longhorn

Not to discourage anyone from visiting, but Pipe Spring is not a destination in and of itself.  At least, I don't see it working that way.  It was designed as a rest stop for people travelling between the Zion and North Rim parks.  Las Vegas hadn't been invented when Pipe Spring was established as a monument, but I can assure you it functioned quite well as a short stop between the sin city and the North Rim on our drive.  We probably spent about an hour and a half there and left refreshed and feeling like we'd had a memorable experience.  They have a nice museum and the grounds are scattered with equipment and wagons that helps visitors imagine what the place might have felt like one hundred plus years ago.  Also, the water from their drinking fountain is wonderfully cold.

Pipe Spring National Monument, AZ

We saw a lot of horses on this trip.  The strangest sighting occurred somewhere along this drive when Jim spotted a couple of horses loitering on a side street next to some houses.  We swung back around and took a few pictures.  They were beautiful horses.  Being city folk, we didn't know if this was something normal or not.

 

After Pipe Spring we drove to Jacob Lake to check out the camp site I'd booked.  Jacob Lake is about an hour North of the North Rim Visitor's Center at the junction of the 89 and 67 highways.  For us it worked out well because it put us right back on the road the next morning.  People wanting to spend more time in the park might want to look for something closer.  Our site looked nice and we liked the location so we decided to eschew looking for other options.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

One of the highlights of this trip was meeting the Geogypsy, also known as Park Ranger Gaelyn Olmstead.  I've been following her blog for a couple of years now and was excited to meet her in person.  I'm convinced park rangers are the happiest people on Earth and she did nothing to dispel that notion.

Point Imperial, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

After stopping at the visitor's center, we drove out to Point Imperial for some late afternoon photos.  We had the place almost all to ourselves.  This was a very different experience from the crushing crowds of the South Rim and definitely more to my liking.  No crowds.  No kids.  No parents.  No strollers.  Wonderful.

Point Imperial, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Obviously, one afternoon on the North Rim didn't even scratch the possibilities of adventures that could be had there.  A longer return visit is definitely in order.

Point Imperial, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Soundtrack:

• Bon Iver -- Bon Iver
• Broken Bells -- Broken Bells
• Green Day -- Dookie
• The Cars -- The Cars
• R.E.M. -- Fables of the Reconstruction
• Gram Parsons -- Grievous Angel