Page 7: The Grand Canyon (04/19/2003)

We arrived at the Grand Canyon at about 7 AM local time through Highway-64 along Desert View Drive. After driving almost all night and sleeping in the car, we were pissed when we arrived at the Grand Canyon with snow showers and visibility of less than 1/16th of a mile in some areas. Snow at the Grand Canyon in late April, I thought this was a desert!! All we saw at the Grand Canyon was a cliff falling off into the clouds. We took some pictures then decided to go see the IMAX movie to kill time in hopes that the fog would burn off. In the morning we almost had the Canyon to ourselves, 70 minutes later after the movie, the sun came out and lead to astounding pictures and temps in the 50s by 9 AM. It was however a huge hassle because of traffic jams and full parking lots at about 9:30 AM local time. Because of the traffic and crowds we did not go back and see all the overlooks again. The Grand Canyon should have a shuttle bus system like Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks offer to handle the traffic and crowds. As we left the park southward along US-180, there were several miles of cars backed up trying to enter the Grand Canyon Park. It’s too crowded and had we have arrived later; the park would have not been worth the hassle. Awesome views however!!