The Grand Canyon, A Freezing Cold Abyss.

Our next destination in our epic road trip was The Grand Canyon. What we didn't know was that it was going to be crazy cold! Luckily, Jeff and Brenda were prepared and armed us with an assortment of clothing that would keep us warm and more importantly alive! How cold was it you ask? Try -8C Maximum with a -17C Minimum, which makes a Melbourne winter look like a breeze (pardon the pun). While we didn't do an awful lot in the Grand Canyon, with it just being a great big canyon that you spend a whole day gawping at, that is exactly what we did. So enjoy the view from our eyes in our one day in the Grand Canyon (or 2 nights, however you want to put it) 

As I was saying earlier, Jeff and Brenda thankfully armed us with an assortment of warm clothing (the cowboy hat was my own doing, it was not so much essential for the cold weather but more a complimented to my look). So if you look closely, Lauren had a stylish 80's teal ski jacket that was 40 sizes to big, but turned out to be a good insulator. To keep the feet warm she bought cowboy boots (which were actually for warmth and not just for looks). Myself (Kristian) on the other hand was dressed rather respectfully, the only addition aside from my cowboy hat was gardening gloves. Yes, they were gardening gloves, because gardening gloves are better than no gloves and they did the job. No regrets there. 

So read on and take in some of the shots of the Grand Canyon!

Rugged up in all of our gear given to us by Jeff & Brenda.

As we arrived at night we were greeted with this view (or lack of) of the Canyon. Turns out our room was just a few steps from the edge of the rim.

In the morning we woke up and went outside to be greeted with this incredible view of the Canyon. It was just breath taking.

This was the little cabin we were in. Our room was just around the corner (this photo was taken right next to the rim, or edge of the canyon).

Lauren found this very amusing so much so she had to take a photo of the Trail Etiquette sign.....Please direct your eyes to the 4th point: DO NOT POOP ON THE TRAIL!

Someone named Krisp had written this in the snow, what a coincidence! 

Someone made some little snowmen on the edge of the Canyon, we couldn't help but take a photo.

I felt like photo bombing Lauren's Panorama shot of the Canyon. I feel I made the shot with my dramatic pose.

As it turns out, it is quite a rare sight to see the snow reach so far down the Canyon, typically because down at the bottom temperatures can reach 35-40C even when the rim is sitting at -10 or more.

We had to do the typical tourist shots, it was obligatory. 

An eagle flying over the Canyon. 

You would have to be damn brave to ride a mule down these steep snow-laden trails down to the base, but as it turns out many people do.  

Despite our better judgement and the freezing cold temperatures we decided to walk down part of the Canyon trail, we were greeted by amazing views and Mule poop.

As you can see the snow can get quite deep at certain points, which made it all the more fun. 

This made us laugh, only because it actually shows the squirrel bite. But we still love squirrels nonetheless.  

Some wild Elk on the side of the road just chilling.

Baby Elk.

On our last night in the Canyon we decided to go on a tour around part of the rim to view the sunset and it was definitely worth the trip.

The sun setting over parts of the North Rim, we were located on the South Rim. 

More of the sunset over the Canyon edges. 

Sunset at the Grand Canyon was just incredible

Click on the picture for a better view

You can just see the Colorado River which is at the very bottom of the Canyon.

On our freezing cold walk back to our Lodge we ran in to a bunch of deer 

A terrible photo out of the bus but a quick snippet of the front of our Lodge.

Some of the scenery on the way back from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff. 

A shot down the main street of Flagstaff. 

As it turns out there were no taxis on this part of the iconic Route 66, so while we were stranded for 30 minutes we took a photo. The frustrating part of being stranded where we were was the fact that we only needed to get to the Greyhound station which was across the railroad tracks and in plain sight. But it was way too far to walk because you had to take the long way round, despite it being icy with heavy bags. 

Wow that was quite a long post for only 1 day of travel! But next up is Las Vegas, which was crazy fun. I think we stayed in just about every iconic hotel on the strip, which was both exhausting and rewarding. But more on that later.

So until next time!
Kristian & Lauren.