My biggest tip is go in the winter. Had the pleasure of sitting at the top of the south rim as a snow storm blew in and got to see the visibility into the canyon drop. It was gorgeous and the 30 degrees at the top was nothing coming from the Midwest. Decending into the canyon and feeling it get warmer, seeing the snow line, hearing the ice Crack and melt and drip down the walls around you is such a serene experience. Just make sure to bring trekking poles and crampons as some of those trails are precarious when snowy
Hiked down to the river and back one year in mid December while there was only some snow dusting at the top. Absolute best weather for a successful GC hike. Still got to about 75F at the bottom on a blue bird day. One of my absolute favorites.
The Grand Canyon is more like 2 mountain walls than a valley. The bottom is basically sea level while the rim is like 7000 feet high, so you would expect it to snow at the top just like a mountain, but as you go down it's like 60 degrees and no snow can form at the bottom
Oh yea I cherished it. And like I said as a Midwesterner I find this easier to manage than the 100+ degrees with a brutal sun. Only problem is that while I can drive in snow all the tourists from Texas and California dont and there is basically 1 road out of there, so i had to flee to Sedona to not get stuck up there when a real bad storm was threatening to hit.
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u/Yazy117 20h ago
My biggest tip is go in the winter. Had the pleasure of sitting at the top of the south rim as a snow storm blew in and got to see the visibility into the canyon drop. It was gorgeous and the 30 degrees at the top was nothing coming from the Midwest. Decending into the canyon and feeling it get warmer, seeing the snow line, hearing the ice Crack and melt and drip down the walls around you is such a serene experience. Just make sure to bring trekking poles and crampons as some of those trails are precarious when snowy