Grand Canyon in February?

Monday afternoon I got a call from Paul Turner.  “Would you like to take a ride to Gardnerville, Nevada to visit a friend?  I have three days off”.  “Do you know that it’s February and still winter.  No way, it’s too cold, too far and I’m not interested”, I replied.  Then he said well how about to the Grand Canyon.  I said OK, let’s go.

Tuesday morning at 8:00 I rode to Fruita to hook up with Paul.  The February morning air was a brisk 28°.  A fresh dusting of snow sat on all the vehicles on the drive way.  I posed the question to Paul, “What is that stuff on your car”?  He laughed heartily and said -  “SNOW”.  We kicked the tires, lit the fires and headed out on the highway on our first spring adventure ride to the Grand Canyon.

We rode west to Crescent Junction then turned South to Moab because we had heard that icy spots along the river were a definite possibility.  We cruised up past Montecello and over the hump without incident.  The weather actually turned out to be really good and despite the cold in the air was great riding weather with a blue sky and lots of sunshine. We spent the first night at the Hampton Inn in Kayenta.

The next morning we rode on to the Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim.  We made a few stops to gaze upon the awesome beauty of the Grand Canyon.  Paul had never been there before and was blown away by the immensity of the Grand Abyss.  We quaffed a few beers, had an incredible dinner at the Arizona Room then made our way to the Maswik Lodge where we spent the night.

Thursday morning we packed it up, had a great breakfast at the Lodge and headed for home.  We arrived back in Fruita  about 8:00 and met up with Neil Webster at the Brew Pub for a burger and to celebrate our successful ride. 

Jesús Guerrero Jr.
Photographer/Historian