Day 3: Grand Canyon

After careful weather calculations we figured our first day in Flagstaff would be the best to make a break up to the canyon. I can't say visiting the Grand Canyon in December would've been my first choice of timing, but we were there so we were going to see the dang thing. The South Rim of the canyon was about an hour and 45 minutes away so we got an early start.

Hills on the way out of Flagstaff

It was cold. Like real cold. We learned an exciting fact, the thermometer in the Corolla actually reads negative numbers.

The closer and closer we got to the canyon we got this was our view, increasingly more and more foggy. At this point we were beginning to get concerned our view of the canyon was going to be obstructed.

So we got up to the rim and it was blowing wind and COLD (see at trend on this trip). We were so excited to actually be at the Grand Canyon. We suited up, barreled out of the car, took a little walk out to the view point and...

Here is it... we were standing at a view point on the rim and there was nothing grand to see except the fog :(

I was rather disappointed, here we were at the Grand Canyon and there was nothing to see. Literally. But, there was local there with his camera and we got chatting. His words of advice were that the canyon will come just as quick as it goes. Wait it out, the fog will blow out. But you better be quick to get your photos in because the fog will roll right back in. While we were standing there talking with him the fog began to blow out of the canyon and we got a glimpse of what's to come.
The cool thing was how the fog and the canyon dampened all the sound. It was such a strange silent muffled feeling. Hard to describe, but almost like talking in heavy snowfall.

The cacti were buried in snow and looked like the spiny guys from Super Mario Brothers :)

This is to show you just how bundled up I was. I think I had everything in my suitcase on at once (including leggings under my jeans).

We went and walked around the lodges and shops and killed time waiting for the fog to burn off. Unfortunately it was too snowy and icy to do any hiking off the main paths. Our patience paid off, we managed to catch some amazing Canyon views. You had to be right on the camera though or else the fog would come back real fast. The Canyon was absolutely stunning... perhaps you could call the views grand? :) When you stand on the rim of the Canyon looking in you feel so tiny and when you think about how it was carved into the earth you feel so powerless. Amazing experience. As much as I had been complaining about the snow, it actually made the views unique. The snow caught on the layers of the rock and add some beautiful contrast to the red rocks. We feel fortunate to have visited in December because we probably never would have chosen this time of year to go. Next time will be a bit warmer though - I want hiking weather!

Warning: Lots of (probably boring) Canyon photos ahead.

Hey look! Blue skies!

Working our way East along the rim.

Yay! We can see the Canyon!
Canyon Watchtower

View from the Watchtower window

We headed back towards Flagstaff through the Painted Desert. We caught the sunset along the way which really made the "painted" part true. Unfortunately, we wanted to get back to the hotel before dark because of the road conditions so we watched the sunset from the car along the way.

Car sunset

We got back to Flagstaff that evening and planned the next day's adventure - Sedona.