As we turned south at Jacob Lake it was still raining. We were hoping it would clear up so we could do a little hiking down into the canyon. Since Jessica had never been here we wanted her to get a good view of the canyon. As we continued on toward the park the rain turned to sleet, then snow. Road was clear, so it was cool to see some flurries. Continuing on the snow continued and started to stick. The further we got, the worse it got. Finally we found ourselves driving slowly through thick slush/snow on the road wondering what the heck we were doing and being thankful for having all wheel drive. After a long stressful drive we finally made it to the lodge.
oh, look at the snow
uh, oh, look at the snow
Jessica's first view of the Grand Canyon
she has always wanted to see the canyon in the snow
heading to our cabin
Jessica's first view of the canyon was fog and hiking down wasn't looking likely. We got to our cabin, cranked the heat and started getting cleaned up from Paria. Before we could all get showers the electricity went out. It was out in the cabins and lodge. That means no heat.
We decided to head up to the saloon where they were still pouring beer. Fortunately Martin had enough cash to get us a round. This turned out to be the place to be. We managed to score a table and stayed for the afternoon. At one point a guy brought in a snowman which he decorated with stuff from the bar. Gotta amuse ourselves somehow.
The snow was blowing pretty good out there
bar snowman
The dining room at the lodge canceled dinner reservations and did a first come, first served dinner with soup (heated on gas stoves), bread and salads. Since our hike was originally supposed to be 2 nights and we only did one, we all had enough food for another night. So we fired up the stoves and made our own dinners.
Turned out the electricity did not come back on until 10pm. We were fortunate to have cold weather sleeping gear with us, so we did alright. With temps dropping into the 20s that night, I imagine it was not very much fun for folks who were less prepared.
We got up early and went to the lodge to see if we could see anything in the canyon. We did manage to get a few minutes of clarity through the fog, so Jess did get to see the canyon.
The next morning we were up early hoping that the weather had cleared a bit. We still wanted to get a look at the canyon for Jessica. Unfortunately the fog was still hanging around - however there were breaks in it when we could see parts of the canyon. It did kind of make it more dramatic. Plus the snow on the rim added a bit to the scene. We took a walk out to Bright Angel Point to see what we could see.
getting out of the wind
careful of that edge
north rim lodge
After that we were ready to head back home. We talked to a ranger at the lodge who said that they were working on the roads and that we should wait until 8am to check back. We did and they said you could get out, but it was dicey and they recommended waiting until 10. A little after 9 we had had enough waiting and headed out.
felt bad for this guy
Once we got on the road we realized that the warnings were wayyy overblown. Road conditions were fine - much better than the day before.
On the way home we made a couple of touristy stops in the Marble Canyon area.
the mighty Colorado River, from Navajo bridge
Back on the road for the long drive home we congratulated ourselves for surviving the unusual May weather. However, it had one more surprise in store for us. As we passed through Flagstaff a snow/sleet squall kicked up and dumped a bunch of ice and snow on the freeway. Once again we were in tricky driving conditions. It wasn't until we dropped down a couple of thousand feet in elevation that we were able to get away from that. A fitting end to a most unusual (weather wise) trip.
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