We have visited the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, the Grand Canyon of the East, the Grand Canyon of Texas (really big!), and now we are at the plain old regular Grand Canyon. We picked this week to come because temperatures in March normally span 39 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit (four to 19 degrees Celsius). Cool-ish and dry.
It is currently 33 degrees Fahrenheit (one degree Celsius), and there are five inches of snow on the ground. The snow started at around 3:00 a.m. this morning and is expected to go all day. Tomorrow we plan to hike to the bottom of the canyon and stay overnight at Phantom Ranch, a unique 1920’s era complex with cabins and dormitories. You need to make reservations in order to stay there. How do you do it? You enter a lottery 15 months in advance of the time you want to stay, and maybe, just maybe, they might pick your name. (You might have an easier time winning Powerball, I don’t know.) Then you fork over a bunch of money and voila, you’re in!
But who has 15 months to plan? I have found a much more successful way to get a reservation. I learned that even though the place is booked far in advance, cancellations do occur. So, in order to get two nights at Phantom Ranch all I did was log on to the reservations page in early March, put in my preferred dates, refresh the page 365 times a minute, remain hunched over my computer doing so for three days straight, and double voila, I scored two nights!
The night I received the confirmation, I checked the Grand Canyon National Park weather page. It had just snowed two feet. Great, Mr. Weather! Get all your snow out of the way so that we will have clear hiking when our turn comes! Can’t wait!
I have been freezing for the three days we have been here.
As you hike to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon, the temperature rises, meaning it is far warmer at the lowest areas than it is at the top. I am looking forward to the seven and a half mile hike down just so I can get warm. And yes, I am dressed for the cold. I am wearing no fewer than six layers of clothing plus a wool hat and a waterproof hood. I haven’t seen my hair the whole time I have been here. My feet want to know what’s going on.
But what am I talking about? This place is amazing. We have been exploring all the areas of the South Rim, plus the beautiful historic architecture of El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge, and other structures. The snow is a reminder that our plans are merely thoughts, and that we have to be open to the adventures that await.
Then the snow fell:
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‘’our plans are merely thoughts‘’ well said – hang tough
Ha, we have to laugh at ourselves, right?
It does get warmer as you descend into the canyon. Many years ago we rode mules down to Phantom Ranch for the night. When we left the south rim it was below freezing and the trail was icy. By that afternoon we were in shirt sleeves at the river. Hope you will be eating dinner at the ranch…it was way better than anything we had at El Tovar, but was 30 years ago!
I’m sure the food will taste great after the hike!