Pipe Springs National Monument, Arizona

Pipe Springs National Monument/Grand Canyon National Park - July 1, 2002

As I write this, I am sitting in my tent, worrying about possible rainfall. The tent is a little tilted - I will have to address this tomorrow.

According to my clock, it is 9:30 at night. Doesn't seem like I did a lot but time sure did fly. I left Las Vegas about 10 this morning. Already 98 degrees. The I drove. Three hours later I ended up at Pipe Springs National Monument.

NOTE: Pipe Springs is east of Las Vegas and west of the Grand Canyon on the Paiute Reservation. To get to Pipe Springs, as with some of the places I visited on this trip, you have to really want to go there because it is not on the beaten path. Pipe Springs is located in Northern Arizona off of state highway 389. You have to drive some other state and US highways to get there.

Not a very big place, is Pipe Springs. Seemed very hot, though. Probably didn't help that I took the 1/2 mile easy hike up the hill. Pipe Springs was a Mormon outpost until the 1890's, and became a National Monument in 1923. I stayed about an hour, saw everything there was to see, and then left.

NOTE: The literature is a little more forthcoming than I. Paraphrasing parts of it, here is the scoop on Pipe Springs: It is located in a small piece of Arizona called the Arizona Strip, a small sliver of land in northern Arizona north and west of the Grand Canyon. The Mormons attempted to settle the land, coming south from Utah. They set up an outpost at what is now Pipe Springs because of availability of water and the surrounding grassland. The Indians, of course, were not happy about this, and friction ensued between the settlers and the Indians with casualties on both sides. Eventually, the Mormons built a better fortification at Pipe Springs and established a ranch. The ranch provided beef and dairy products to St. George. However, Pipe Springs and other settlements like it caused a lot of damage to the surrounding grasslands - the grass used to be much higher and thicker than it is now. The Mormons sold Pipe Springs in 1895 due to issues over polygamy with the Federal government. The ranch continued to operate as a private operation after that and, in 1923, became a National Monument.

Another hour and a half later I arrived at the North Rim. I did take a short hike (to Bright Angel Point) and attended the park ranger talk (about forest fires). Most of the trails are closed because of the dryness and risk of forest fires. I am allowed to use the stove Benny lent me. Had a delicious supper consisting of hotdogs, beans, and corn on the cob.

NOTE: Due to the dryness and the potential for bad forest fires, the National Park Service closed most of the inland hiking trails. The trails around the rim were left open, as were the overlooks. For those who have never visited the National Parks (and I admit ignorance on this), the rangers provide nightly campfire talks. Since most of the North Rim was closed, there wasn't that much to do and the campfire talk, minus campfire, was in the campground. So I went. It was very educational even if it was geared more towards the kids

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