Grand Canyon 2009

We were in the comfort of a comfortable house in the mild low desert climate of Tucson when a winter storm passed over Arizona in the first week of December. Many a reader might smirk about an Arizona winter storm but it left 2 feet of snow behind in Flagstaff and we saw a temperature of -16F (that is -27C) at the Grand Canyon flash by on a computer screen. Still not especially relevant, except we had planned a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon for a week later.

Later that week, we left the low desert and we were astonished by the mid-winter snow and ice conditions of Northern Arizona. The snow kept falling. We stayed at friend Ed's cabin and stoked the wood burning stove. When Ed returned early from work one day because of poor weather, he announced “The roads are a mess. I wouldn't go to the Grand Canyon in this”. That cinched it. We and our rental car (another upgrade gone wrong, this time a Dodge Charger) arrived at the South Rim in record time the following morning to a winter wonderland. We were somehow surprised to see other visitors, but only a very small fraction of the 5 million people that visit the Grand Canyon each year.

We put on warmish clothes and made a dash down the Bright Angel trail. It was amazing to walk with our Yaktrax again, this time down into the canyon in December (we had used them earlier to tramp on an Alaskan glacier). Temperatures moderated with the lower elevation and our camp for 2 nights at Indian Gardens (4,000' or 1200m) was pleasant by day, though below-freezing at night. The warning signs along the trail about heat and dehydration didn't seem to mean much in the winter. We had hauled an extra sleeping bag down with us and the ranger kindly offered an extra sleeping bag which we gladly accepted. Uncommon luxury!

By day, we wandered the plateau and we walked a loop along the Tonto ("fool" in Spanish) trail and down along the Colorado River. We were happy fools. It was all magnificent.

With a tepid impression of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon behind us (earlier in October), our South Rim experience had us scheming our next trip into the canyon. Let's hope we don't meet too many of the 5 million people next time.