With Grandma, Grandview Trail
Just after Christmas I had the pleasure of treating Grandma to a Grand Canyon visit. I didn’t realize how cold it could be as in San Antonio it never really seems to get too cold.
We left 12-26, arrived in Phoenix and were at the South Rim in the late afternoon. I stopped at Mather view point and helped Grandma out of the car. Unfortunately there was ice all over the parking lot and Grandma lives in fear of ice. She had taken a couple of bad spills and broke her wrist once by slipping on ice. I maneuvered her over to the view point and we were hit by a cold gust. Grandma gasped. She claimed it was from the view and not the gust. The view was spectacular, her first view of the canyon, that it literally took the breath from her. I have heard from a friend that when she viewed the canyon the first time it caused her to burst into tears.
The following day I ferried Grandma to various view points but she quickly tired and wanted to go back to the Motel. We spent some time in Tusayan checking the tour shops. The next day she just didn’t feel like doing anymore touring—tired and not wanting to face the cold. I asked for permission to take a day hike and spent the day on the Grandview Trail, hiking out to the viewpoint. It felt good to be out in the canyon and the cold doesn’t penetrate too far into the canyon. The Grandview trail is the first canyon trail I had hiked (with Sophie in 2002) and I have hiked it several times since then, as recently as 2007 as a prelude to my Royal Arch—Bass Canyon hike in 2007.
Here are a few photos from December of 2003.
