It was a quick getaway, starting at 8.30 am Arizona time which is 7.30 am Mountain time (which we have been using). Today we follow Interstate 89A all the way, no stopping, no pauses, no repetition,  no hesitation (or is that a well know radio show with Nicholas Parsons?).

The road carries a reasonable amount of traffic but there is rarely any shoulder so we did get a few drivers very close to us when passing, the majority were fine. The road planner was another one equipped with just a ruler when planning his roads, very straight.

Much straightness

All the time today we were climbing, only very slowly until halfway, then the climbing started in Earnest (Earnest was smiling a lot today), for the next 15 miles is was a constant gradient to give a total of 3800 ft of up over the full day. 

Goodbye Fredonia

There was little wildlife to report (that means none, not a small piece of wildlife) although there were several large bright orange butterflies flitting around (the flits were way to fast for the cameraman!).

Scenery is big, with sagegrass as far as the eye can see, and that is a very long way here.

The general views were impressively massive, we stopped at a scenic overlook (viewpoint) for a lunch stop, it was a very popular place, there were some native american indians selling their wares and it was a coach stop as well.

We continued up to 7500 ft and reached the Kaibab Plateau which stretches all the way to the Grand Canyon, the road became tree lined which as a bonus shielded us from the headwind which had now started to blow. Janet saw a Kaibab Squirrel scurry across the road (unusually for us it was alive, most of these we see as a flat animals at the roadside!).

There were a lot of burnt trees on one side of the road where the forestry service has been carrying out controlled burning, as nature relies very heavily on forest fires as part of natural checks and balances, if mankind controls the fires everthing gets out of balance.

We arrived at Jacob Lake Campground, almost the last week as all campgrounds around here run by the National Forest close on the 15th October for the winter. We picked a nice spot (although every doctor will tell you never pick a spot, let that be a warning to you). Tent up and we were once more comfortable, there were even some groceries (sweets and crisps) available from a small gas station up the road.