Day 32 - Williams, AZ

It got down to 0.2 degrees last night! There is a lot of snow on the ground .. it's winter!!

Met a fellow camper from Alabama. He had a very special rig. A 2003 Corvette pulling a teardrop-shaped trailer which he had had custom-made in Texas (see photo). He and Ross were able to talk Corvette talk.

The trees are full of snow on our way to the Visitor Center in the Grand Canyon Village. We stopped at Grandview Point. This was the first tourist hotel in the Grand Canyon (there is no trace of it today) which was built by Pete Berry in 1898. Tourists would arrive following a 12-hour rough stagecoach ride from Flagstaff. He had built the hotel after owning a copper mine which did not prove to be very profitable.

We followed a trail below which was the one originally used by the miners and later on by mules.

At the Visitor Center we were informed that we could pick up a shuttle bus at the far end of the Village to take the Rim Scenic Tour.

The shuttle bus gave us the opportunity to get off at the different viewpoints, take photos, marvel at the vistas, and at times walk on the rim trail to the next viewpoint, and then to again board the shuttle to continue our route. We were able to see the Colorado River from many of these viewpoints and actually saw a couple of rafts.

At one of the first viewpoints we saw the Kaibab Trail (see photo) which leads you down to the bottom of the Canyon. It is a rim to rim trail. It will take you approx. 8 hours to go down, stay overnight (camping or at Phantom Ranch) and another 8 hours climbing up to the north rim or returning to the top of the south rim. We did see a lot of people on the trail but only a few with backpacks so I think you can take the trail for as far as you wish and then return.

Our last viewpoint was Hermit's Rest where we bought lunch and sat inside in front of a huge stone fireplace. This building was designed by Elizabeth Colter in the 1920s.

We got back to the Roadtrek around 2h15 pm. We had been lucky with the weather as the sun was present the whole time with very little wind.

Driving thru Grand Canyon Village, we saw the Grand Canyon train at the station. It makes daily return trips from Flagstaff. Nearby we saw a corral full of mules that are used for trekking down the Canyon.

Tonight we are near Williams. We have a very comfortable campsite and look forward to driving Route 66 tomorrow. Bonne nuit!