St. George Jeepers Trail Report Toroweap Overlook-Grand Canyon 11-07-2017

Toroweap, on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, is always a popular destination. Twenty three vehicles departed the Arizona/Utah border for the approximately 75 mile trip. The trip was led by Bud Sanders and Carol Steck with Wayne and Barbara Jack as the tail-gunners.

After traveling 49 dusty miles from the state line, we arrived at the Mount Trumbell School. (Arrow, above) It's an historic landmark and always welcome pit stop. The Mt. Trumbull Schoolhouse was built in 1918. It was used for a school, church, dance hall, and town meeting facility. As the population around the schoolhouse dwindled, it fell into disrepair. In 1966, its doors closed. In 1990, restoration efforts began and were completed four years later, restoring the schoolhouse to its near original condition.

On July 31, 2000, arsonists burned the building down. A restoration committee made the decision to build a schoolhouse replica. The restoration was completed in partnership with some of the descendents of the first settlers of Mt. Trumbull, the BLM, and contributions from the public. The Mt. Trumbull Schoolhouse was rededicated on October 13, 2001 and continues to be a symbol of the pioneer spirit of the Arizona Strip.

Original Mt. Trumbell Schoolhouse

Whitmore Canyon is another very nice scenic ride with a great vista of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. Plan a ride when the desert vegetation is in bloom in April and depending upon the year, into May.

Entering the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument

After departing the schoolhouse we ascended Mt. Trumbull and into the Mt. Trumbull Wilderness. At lower elevations the vegetation of the wilderness consists of Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), pinyon pine, Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera), and big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). Moving up, the vegetation slowly changes into towering ponderosa pines. There are also various types of grasses which grow intermittently throughout the wilderness. Mt. Trumbull, is 8,028 feet elevation at its highest point. Located on Mount Trumbull is the site of the historic Mt. Trumbull Saw Mill. This site was located some 70 miles southeast of where the St. George Temple was being built. Some of the lumber for the Temple was brought from Pine Valley Mountain and some from the Kaibab Forest, but most of the lumber came from Mt. Trumbull. Oxen were used to pull the heavy wagons of lumber along a treacherous road, the Temple Trail, from Mt. Trumbull to St. George. Many of these oxen were donated by faithful church members and cities and wards in the church.

Delivering logs to the mills

During the summer months, the fresh boards from the sawmills on the mountain were hauled to Antelope Springs. During the winter, when Mt. Trumbull was covered with snow, they were hauled on to St. George.

A boarding house at Mount Trumbull was established to take care of the workers. There were about forty men working on the project of running the Sawmill and transporting the lumber to the Temple Site.

The task of hauling lumber to the Temple was difficult., It took seven days to haul a load, and then sometimes no more than one or two of the larger logs could be brought at one time. (Source: Washington County Historical Society)

The sawmill was owned and operated by Benjamin and Frederick Blake. The Blake brothers and others operated the sawmill from the 1870's to the 1940's making it the longest running sawmill on the Arizona Strip. For construction of the St. George Temple, in 1874 a large mill was sent from Salt Lake City to supplement the production of the existing small mill. Bothe mills were able to saw twenty-thousand board feet of lumberdaily and furnished 1 million board feet to finish the temple. (A board foot is described as a volume of lumber equivalent to a piece of lumber 1 inch stickness by 1 square foot measurement.)

A view of the geology, banana yucca, sage, Mormon tea and other vegetation along the trail.

Before a traveler enters the Grand Canyon National Park, you must stop at the ranger station. As we approached a Park Service volunteer came to meet us. As each of the 23 vehicles approached, it seemed that her eyes got bigger and bigger. She informed us that, one, to enter with anywhere near that number of vehicles a prior permit was required. Since the Jeepers group had accessed Toroweap with as many as two dozen vehicles before, we were unaware of this requirement. She then told us that the maximum of any group was four vehicles at once. The limiting of total vehicles per day is an attempt to minimize impact upon the environment. In an attempt to accommodate us, the rangers suggested that we carpool into as few vehicles as possible and go on in. We were able to do this and everyone got to the overlook together.

Ecology Tuweep sits at an elevation of 4500ft /1400m on a landform known as the Esplanade which forms a flat shelf situated about halfway between the coniferous forests of the North Rim and the hot canyon bottom. This is a high desert area with mild winters and light snows. Summers are hot with thunderstorms from July to September. In Toroweap Valley a chaparral community exists with juniper and pinyon pines, sagebrush and saltbush, Mormon tea and other woody shrubs, and various grasses. Near the Esplanade, succulent cacti, yucca, and agave predominate. In years of abundant winter moisture, wildflowers proliferate. Some life forms, like the crusty black biological soil crust, are rare and sensitive. Please avoid stepping on these fragile living organisms! Wildlife includes coyotes, mule deer, jackrabbits, rodents, and numerous species of birds and reptiles. An often-overlooked and little-understood biotic community exists seasonally in the slick-rock potholes on the Esplanade. Fairy and horseshoe shrimp, tiny frogs, and microscopic organisms emerge from the muddy bottom when moisture fills these pools.

Human History

Toroweap, a Paiute term meaning "dry or barren valley," refers to local features, including the valley and the overlook. Tuweep came into use to describe the local white settlement and later the park area. Tuweep in Paiute (pronounced Tu-VEEP) refers to "the earth”. The first humans in the Tuweep region were ice-age hunters who lived a nomadic hunting-gathering existence in what was a milder climate. The Ancestral Puebloans, arriving about 2000 years ago, farmed in this area. They migrated eastward around A.D.1300. The most recent native Americans living here were the Paiute. They now live to the north. John Wesley Powell, led by a Paiute guide, visited Tuweep in 1870. He mapped and named many of the local features. More recently, European-Americans ranched, mined, and settled in the area. While ranchers used this valley seasonally in the early 1900s, the first year-round homestead was the Lower Kent Ranch, built in 1927, located just north of the park. Other pioneers in the region included the Schmutz, Cunningham, Craig, Iverson and Bundy families. Henry Covington herded sheep and mined on the Esplanade for over 20 years. There are still many sites that speak of his determination to live and prosper in this arid region. (Source: National Park Service)

Below, the infamous Lava Falls, said by river runners to be the most difficult rapids on the Colorado River

Arrow indicates Hermit Shale layer above Toroweap Point

Although the titles of the geologic layers are difficult to read, the graphic clearly demonstrated the amount of tilt between the Eastern Grand Canyon and the downstream Western Grand Canyon.

Aerial view showing cinder cones and lava flows.

An interesting relic, an Adams Leaning Wheel Grader. One can only imagine the rough ride the operator must have endured when that blade hit a big rock.

J.D. Adams & Company was founded in 1885 by Joseph D. Adams who invented the first leaning-wheel pull grader and was based in Indianapolis. The company manufactured construction machinery including sheepsfoot rollers, dozers and graders from its factory. The company catalogues also listed products by Acme Road Machinery Company though the association is unknown beyond the product listings. In 1955 LeTourneau-Westinghouse purchased J.D. Adams & Co and continued to operate under the name until 1960.

Another great day on the trail, enjoying perfect northern Arizona fall weather.

Submitted by Bud Sanders