Dec. 15, 2012 – Flagstaff, Az. to Grand Canyon

Squeals echoed through the car as we slid across the icy road. The German girls had never driven in so much snow before. Hell, this was crazy by Canadian standards.

Northern Arizona had just been buried in record snowfall. Some people suggested a trip to the Grand Canyon wouldn’t be worth it. The hostel wound up cancelling the bus tour. But Mareike, Juliane and I still hit the road in their rental car at 5:30 a.m. – this was the Grand Canyon!

The first hour at the legendary site might as well have been spent in a Canadian mountain town. Elk dotted the road while piles of snow weighed down the branches on the fat juniper trees. The view from the South Rim was completely fogged out.

Undeterred, we started the descent. As we passed a few hikers making the trek back up from having camped at the base, the girls began lambasting me for leaving the tent in the car.

A few more hikers and trail signs suggested against hiking all the way down to the Colorado River and back in one day. I dejectedly turned to the girls – but they could hardly contain their excitement.

“Let’s do it!”

Unreal! It would likely mean completing the hike under darkness, but I had a headlamp and the snow would brighten the night.

We knew we had to move quickly, but the stunning landscape kept slowing us down. The snow glistened against the red-rock backdrop in the canyon’s highest points, while the mountain range rose and plunged dramatically below it. The fog and snow disappeared while the temperature rose about four miles down the trail. We happily jaunted down to the river, switching between German and Canadian songs.

We took a long time enjoying the majestic Colorado River before reluctantly starting the trek back up. It was already 2:15 p.m., meaning we were guaranteed at least a bit of time in the dark.

The first part wasn’t so bad. The sun had burned away the clouds and sprayed stunning light across the mountains, allowing us better views of spots we’d already seen.

But daylight slowly started fading around the halfway point. Conversation dried up as the temperature dropped and we got back up to the snowy area. We still had three miles to go when darkness fell.

My headlamp died soon after that. We spent the last two miles climbing the mountain using only the stars and bright snow to guide us.

We were cold, tired, but elated as we collapsed at the top. All done.

I took the wheel for the icy drive home. Marieke worked the music from the passenger seat while Juliane slept in the back. A few hours later, we were cooking a tasty meal and having some drinks back in Flagstaff, impressing the others with stories of the adventure.