Kaibab National Forest (06-07-15)

Kaibab National Forest, in the Flagstaff area of Arizona, also sits at an elevation of about 6500-7500 feet, and when we arrived, it was a brisk 54*- quite a bit cooler than the 93* in Havasu. The section of forest we headed towards is the Bill Williams area, near the historic town of Williams, AZ. If we had more time we would be blowing through Williams and driving just a little further- Williams is a major jumping off point for The Grand Canyon.  Some other time.




  The route we chose to get there took us along parts of historic Route 66, and through the town of Seligman.  We have fond memories of this town- we stopped here with the kids on our vacation way back in 2002.

We actually ate with the kids, at this Snow Cap, where the owners are known for their sense of humor. 

Do you want ice in your drink?

I made the mistake of asking for a small cone. 

The signs on the building say things like “sorry, we’re open” and “ we serve cheeseburgers…with cheese”

My favorite (ok, not favorite, but strongest) memory of this place is the outhouse.  Back in 2002 I asked if they had  a ladies room and I was directed to the Outhouse- a fully functioning bathroom, set up as an outhouse. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that there is, indeed, a regular bathroom attached to the building.  Oh well, the kids thought it was funny.








Once we arrived in Williams, we stopped at the Forest Service Visitor Center to find out about local hiking and dispersed camping.  Dispersed camping is when you are (usually) alone, and not in a campground.  It’s usually either free or very low cost.


  We got some intel on some good spots, and headed out to the forest to find a place to park.

Paul immediately went on the hunt for firewood, but as it turns out, it was too chilly and too windy, to have a fire that first night.

We were moving pretty slow the next day, but we had already decided which trail we were going to hike.



  There is an 11 mile trail called the Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail. At this elevation we had no intentions of attempting the whole trail, so we started at the most interesting point, and walked till we didn’t feel like walking anymore.









The first point of interest was the Pomeroy Tanks.  These are natural reservoirs that provide water to the local wildlife.














Next up was Sycamore Falls.  Unfortunately there is no water falling right now.  We did get to watch some kids zip line across the chasm.

Further down the way, we watched some people do some rock climbing, and about that time we thought we had hiked enough and turned around.

The closest thing to wildlife that we saw was a HUGE flock of sheep being herded by both a shepherd and a dog.  The dog blended in quite nicely with the sheep.












  The following day we hiked another….um…..uninspiring….section of trail, and found another pretty neat place to spend the night.












As we sat around the fire looking at the sky, we started wondering what we were looking at, so it was time to get out the smart phone Apps that are so amazing, all you have to do is hold it up to the sky and it shows you what is up there.












After three nights in the National Forest, we headed into Williams for the night so we could recharge the batteries and empty the tanks..
Of course, we were hungry, so we stopped at the Grand Canyon Brewery, where we ate outside while listening to some really good live music.







It is really different traveling with absolutely no destination in mind except someplace cool.  Soon enough we were ready to move on……