The canyon is about a mile deep, 278 miles long, and I forget how wide. Millions of people from around the globe come to see it every year. We drove into the park on the Friday after Thanksgiving and waited 1 hour to go from the village of Tusiyan to the park entrance–a 2-mile drive. Once we were there, it was less crowded and as the weekend progressed, there was less pushing and shoving into the shuttles at key points.
We just missed sunset when we arrived but made the effort to see it on Saturday evening. Everything really does turn pink! WOW! We took all the routes east and west to see how the views change. On Sunday, we were blessed with a blanket of dry snow, which added an additional sparkle to the place. We enjoyed ourselves inspite of the lack of water; all the Trailer Village pipes freeze in cold weather because they refuse to weatherize. We paid full price anyway. Once we were out and about, we hiked down a few hundred feet into the canyon at Hermit’s Rest. The visitor’s building there has a huge fireplace and lots of hot chocolate.
On Monday, we spent the day in The Village where we looked at the lodges, exhibits, Hopi House, art galleries, and more views. We were hoping to see the Cal Condors, but I guess it was too cold for them to be out. Tuesday morning we drove east to see Mary Colter’s Watchtower and the ruins. The views from here were quite different. We loved it all and plan to come back during a warmer season to hike down into the canyon.