A Grand Canyon Thanksgiving

December 29, 2019

All smiles at the trailhead!

Thanksgiving is one of the best times of year to be in the canyon, with milder weather and less crowds. The days are be short however, and nights can get quite cold. We lucked out this year and made it back to the rim just as a snowstorm set in.

This time around Lea, Abby and I hiked the Escalante Route over 4 days. We started down the Grandview Trail late in the day, after driving fom Las Vegas that morning. Our first night in the canyon was frigid, and we woke up to frost and ice.

Over the next few days we hiked along the Colorado River. It’s hard to descern from the map, but we encountered many scambles and small climbs along the route, slowing our progress. At Papago Creek, there was a sizeable rock slide and downclimb, which led to an eventful end to day, and left us getting into camp at dark.

Hiking out was no easy task, and we were craving our post-backpacking burgers even more than usual. A nice family from Ohio gave us a ride back to our car, and we hurried over to the Grand Canyon Village for burgers. The burgers were quite dissapointing (hard to believe after backpacking), but we were happy to be warm and sleeping in a bed that night.

If you would like a print, or full resolution file of any of the images feel free to reach out to me at mike@mguida.com.

A cold night leaves my boots frosty and stiff to begin the day