Dates we visited: January 1st - 4th 2021
Where we stayed: Black Bart’s RV Park
Our travels had mostly been on hold since early November, as we spent the holidays with family in Arizona. However, we did find time to take the rig up to Flagstaff, Arizona for a week of cold weather camping (below freezing every night) to celebrate the new year. While we were in the area, we made two trips up to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, which is about 90 minutes northwest of Flagstaff. Additionally, we explored two National Monuments in the area: Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon, which are both worth your time if you are in the area.
It’s Cold!
The campground we stayed at was pretty quiet, and had limited services available due to Covid-19 and the cold weather. bathrooms and showers were closed, as was the on-site restaurant. While they had heated water pedestals to prevent freezing, the one for our spot was not working. Luckily our heated hose was long enough to hook up to the neighboring spot. If you have not camped in cold weather before, specifically below freezing temps, it’s awesome, but a whole different experience from summer camping. Even with the extra work that cold weather camping required, we had an awesome time ringing in 2021!
The First Visit
Our first trip up to the Grand Canyon was on Friday January 1st. Some friends that camped next to us over the weekend joined us on this trip. We were hoping that the park would not be too busy, but our hopes were quickly dashed as we were met with a pretty sizable crowd. We stopped at the Visitor Center area and bookstore to talk to a ranger and get the Junior Ranger booklet for Owen, and then walked to Mather Point, and strolled a short distance along the Rim Trail. While it was certainly a breathtaking view, the crowds were a bit overwhelming, and we decided to head out pretty quickly.
The Second Visit
We made a second attempt on the Grand Canyon a few days later in the early morning. We intended to see sunrise in the park, but arrived just after dawn, due to a minor mishap with local law enforcement (note to future visitors: watch out for the reduced speed zone on Hwy 64 going through “Grand Canyon Junction” near the Valle Airport). Upon our arrival, we found no crowds, beautiful vistas, and very chilly weather. While we didn’t do any hiking this day, we stopped at a few of the overlooks, including Hopi Point and Powell Point. Of the two, we enjoyed Powell Point the most. It’s just down the road from the village complex, so you get away from the crowds of people that only stop at the visitor center. Powell Point has great views of the canyon to the east and west, and there is a cool commemorative memorial to some of the early explorers of the canyon.
Grand Canyon is one of the most popular National Parks in the country, and for good reason. The incredible force of the Colorado River, unrelenting over millions of years, has sculpted the landscape into something that has to be seen to be truly appreciated. Next time, we may try to get at the North Rim to experience the park from a different perspective.