What an incredible first 4 months it was exploring Arizona. This was our first trip to Arizona and we have been blown away. We had no idea how beautiful the state is. People have told us that you could live there for a lifetime and not explore it all. I absolutely believe this.
On our way out of Arizona, our last adventure was to be the Grand Canyon. I am pretty sure it is a law that you cannot visit Arizona without stopping at the GC before you leave. It was pretty windy and chilly at the campground where we stayed. I am not sure exactly how hard the wind was blowing, but it was enough to get our attention. Our trailer weighs about 12,000#, so if we were getting pushed around it had to be whipping pretty good. With the weather conditions we decided to venture out on the trail near the visitor center. The views were of course magnificent! This is a natural spectacle that simply cannot be put into words, and pictures really do not do it justice. We certainly will have to come back here when the weather is a bit warmer.
It is hard to grasp the entire scope. I was curious on what it really compares with, so I did a little bit of research. It measures a mile deep, 277 miles long and 18 miles wide. To put it in perspective, it covers an area larger than Rhode Island. Maybe when we head east we will have to visit Rhode Island so we have a point of reference?
After leaving the Grand Canyon we had to drive through The Kaibob National Forest. Watching the landscape change was pretty incredible. It went from mesas in the desert to conifers in the forest as the elevation increased. I knew it was raining in southern Utah where we were headed, but what I didn’t know was that we had to climb up to about 7000 feet in the forest. By the time we reached the top of the pass it turned from rain to snow to sleet. As we descended, there was about 2” of sleet on the road. Being from Wisconsin, driving in poor conditons is not new to us. However driving in these conditions with 12,000# behind us suggestiing we get to the bottom the hill as fast as possible is a new experience. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel. You could say that I did a lot of praying during this stretch. By the Grace of God we made it through ok.
There was however a payoff to this white knuckle experience. After we had passed the snow, there was a pull off where we could view the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument from a distance.
