Weather is unpredictable in northern Arizona in March. My daughter and I had been watching the everchanging weather for months. On Monday, March 11th was our best day to visit the Grand Canyon. Luckily, we were still on east coast time so getting out the door by 7 a.m. for the 2 hour drive from Oakcreek to the east entrance of the Grand Canyon was relatively easy. We packed our backpack with water, lunch and snacks, my hiking sticks and the Arizona playlist my daughter curated and were out the door. It was an easy drive up route 89N to Cameron and then west on Route 64. Once we passed Flagstaff it was an open road with few cars. It wasn't long before we were hopping out of the car for a photo at the Grand Canyon Entrance sign. And yes, we covered the sign.
On my past trip to the Grand Canyon, I purchased a GuideAlong audio tour and history of the area. My link was still good so we turned it on and allowed it to play through the car stereo guiding our trek and stop at the overlooks while providing an interesting history. After using my National Park Access Pass, our first stop was the Watch Tower. The tower was closed on my last visit so I was hoping to go inside, but I was unaware that timed entry tickets were needed. Slightly disappointing, but also I was happier not to have been on a time schedule for the day.
We continued our driving trek stopping at each over look. These were views that I did not see on my last visit. It was beautiful and "grand", but after a while, what can you say. My daughter and I would stop, look and say "Rocks, Stridents" in the tone of
"Big Ben, Parliament" from the National Lampoon European Vacation. We thought ourselves clever.
We reached the Visitor's Center and it was clear that parking was going to be an issue. We thanked MS yet again when we were able to locate a handicap parking space. The space was perfect and even provided us with a picnic table to enjoy our lunch. It was then that we discovered the coolness of the air coming from the canyon. No worries, we had prepared for this. We had packed hats and gloves ..... that we left in the condo. Oh well, we would build up some warmth through walking and hiking. I grabbed my
Trail Buddy treking pole and we were off the the canyon. After looking around the Visitor Center area, we decided to take the shuttle further into the park and walk/hike the almost 3 mile
Trail of Time back to the visitor center. Being spring break, the shuttle were crowded, but honestly I don't know if there is ever a time that they aren't crowded. We saw an elk standing near the shuttle stop once we reached the El Tovar Hotel. It always amazes me how close the wild animals come to people in this national park. We began our journey along the rim back toward the Visitor Center. Along the path are various rocks and eye scopes explaining the geological formation on the Grand Canyon. We made it our mission to touch each rock display along the trail - essentially touching over 200 million years in time. There were a few times we ventured off the Trail of Time to explore other view points, always being respectful to follow the designated trails. We were only a few feet from some pronghorns and almost missed them completely. It is a reminder to raise you eyes from the trail to take in what is around you. We were constantly amazed at the people who would go beyond the trail and climb out onto the rock or allow their children to play so close to the edge. It was nerve racking. The beauty of nature surpassed my anxiety.
We were tired once we reached the Visitor Center and decided to rest in the car before driving over the Bright Angel Trail. When I went to sit in the drivers seat, I found the drivers seat to be completely reclined and stuck in position. I realized that one of my trekking poles, that I kept on the floor near the drivers side door for easy access, had pushed the automatic seat button. We laughed and I removed the pole thinking that I may need to store it in a different location. But laughter turned to concern when the seat back raised 3 inches and would not move anymore. How were we going to drive this car?
Calmness prevailed and after starting the car and turning it off and with a little muscle from my daughter pushing the seat forward, the seat finally returned to the driving position. We never had an issue after that, though I did choose to relocated my trekking poles to the back seat of the car.
I drove us to Bright Angel Trail head and we decided to hike a short way into the canyon just to be able to say we hiked into the canyon. There was an advisory to wear crampons, a traction device that attaches to shoes that provide more traction in snow and ice. We knew we were not going far and were turning around if and when we saw snow covered trails and the trail was closed for maintenance at the 1/2 mile marker. We hiked down the first 1/4 mile. This is were I stopped, but my daughter continued a little further into the canyon. Slush was beginning to increase on the trail and she reversed and began hiking back up. What a weather difference from when I hiked it in 2021 during a heat advisory.
We had debated taking the shuttle to Herman's Rest, but decided against it. The shuttle crowds were large and we were hoping to be back to the condo close to dark, it was time to make the 2 hour drive back via the Grand Canyon's south entrance. The drive was busier, but smooth and we spent the two hours discussing our day and singing to the music. We watching the skyline dance with colors of red, pink and orange. I warned Christina that if I saw a pull off I was taking it. Within a minute or so there was a sign for the turn off and I very aburptly turned the car off the highway and stopped. That is when my daughter explained that the off ramp continued. I was so excited to take in the sunset I had stopped on the off ramp. Ooops. We were both in awe of the sunset, what an end to such a beautiful day.
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