Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim)
On March 8th, 2010, we arrived at South Rim of Grand Canyon around 11pm. It was quite a journey to get there. As we drove along Hwy 89 while passing Kaibab National forest, we were hit my by a snow storm. Everything happened so quickly and roads were covered with snow and there was no way turning back. Fortunately, we found a semi truck and followed it until we got out of the storm. It was too cold and windy to spend the night in the car so we got motel for ourselves.
The next morning we started with a much-needed breakfast at McDonald’s. The weather forecast for the day was gusty winds of 20-30 mph and 100% snow chances with accumulation up to 7 inches… Great!! We were the only ones at South Rim around 8 am, just wandering around like homeless people in search of the Grand Canyon. We could barely see anything beyond 10 feet; it was foggy, windy and snowy. The south rim trail was easy to walk, and had a new view around every corner if you could see it in the weather. As we were wondering around, we stop by Yavapai Observation Point for shelter. The shelter did not provide us food and blankets but it had cool displays of rock formation and there are rangers answering questions about the Grand Canyon.
As we left the observation point shelter, suddenly everything started clearing up, the fog started rising as it got warmer and we could finally see the Grand Canyon. I was very excited to see the spectacular rock formation – it was magnificent, gorgeous and breathtaking. The Grand Canyon is something that everyone should see at least once in their life and it was finally there, right in front of me. As the sun was trying to fight its way through dark clouds and fog, the canyon gave a very mystical view. I wasn’t prepared for this kind of grandeur. We walked along the South rim and took hundreds of pictures. It was really starting to clear up so we were planning to stay for sunset and hike some trails. But just as suddenly as it had cleared up, it started snowing and there was a snow storm warning. The weather there changes like my mood. I was very amused with how quickly nature can change. We did not want to be stuck there so we started driving which wasn’t the smartest thing to do but Shahnila’s experience of driving in Chicago snow helped a lot. Skidding and sliding, we finally made our way back to Hwy 140. On our way we also saw couple of wrecks. Now we were on our way to Death Valley National Park.
I cannot give you all of insight since I was there in such bizarre weather conditions and also I did not hike any trails. But make sure you are wearing appropriate clothing, carry enough water and check the weather conditions. Now I can definitely tell my grandchildren someday that I was at Grand Canyon. I hope to go back to North Rim this summer depending upon where I spend my summer. When I go back I want to hike to the Colorado River and want to see how the rock changes its color with sunlight. Click here for more photos…
Sun was trying to fight its way through dark clouds and fog
Last view before it started snowing crazy
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Outdoors 