snow

Spring Snow At The Grand Canyon

The last three days have been very windy and cold up here. The weather forecast yesterday was for up to six inches of snow by Thursday morning. We woke up today to this:

snow at the north rim may 18 2011 — Snow at the North Rim May 18, 2011

This is on Hwy 67 headed north out of the park this morning:

We had to go to Kanab to buy groceries, so we tried out the 4 wheel drive on our new truck. Although there was a lot of snow on the road, it wasn’t slick or slippery. Still, it was a scary ride down that plateau.

hwy 67 headed north may 18, 2011 — Hwy 67 north May 18, 2011

That’s a color picture, by the way. It looks more like Christmas than springtime! There were lots of cars going out, not so many coming in.

We bought all the groceries, filled up with fuel and headed back in record time. We wanted to get back home before it got dark and the temperature dropped. The sky looked ominous up ahead on the plateau where we live:

storm on the kaibab plateau — Storm clouds over the Kaibab Plateau

As we drove up Hwy 89A towards Jacob Lake, we went through a snow thunderstorm. It was very weird to have flashes of lightening and claps of thunder while it was snowing furiously. I don’t think I have ever encountered thunder snow before.

Hwy 89A going towards Jacob Lake May 18, 2011 — Hwy 89A, headed south towards Jacob Lake May 18, 2011

We passed one car that had run off the road into a ditch. I’m surprised there weren’t more. This road has a lot of traffic this time of year with visitors going to the North Rim.

Hwy 67 south towards the North Rim May 18, 2011

We finally made it home to the North Rim. This is on Hwy 67, about a mile inside the park. The ranger at the gate said they had plowed the road twice while we were gone. About a mile past this point, the road was clear.

I was not surprised by this snow. Last year, the last snow of the season was on June 12. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one more snowstorm this year.

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Snow At The North Rim

Karen · 7 Comments

When we arrived here on Sunday, there was lots of snow on the ground, but it was definitely melting. We had sunny days, and the temps were well above freezing.

01 monday — Looking at the canyon from the back porch of the lodge on Monday.

I have been able to get out and take a walk every day since we’ve been here, and not even get my feet wet.

Looking across the street from my trailer to the apartment building yesterday. We are parked in a temporary spot because our “home” site is still muddy and snowcovered, but at this area, it was melting nicely yesterday.

03 yesterday canyon — This was taken yesterday near the helicopter pad when I went out for a walk.

Oh, but last night, the wind blew. It blew so hard I was afraid the trailer would turn over. You could hear it coming up out of the canyon, and through the Ponderosa pine trees outside our bedroom window. It sounded scary and mean.

04 wind blown — This Aspen tree didn't make it through the night.

I didn’t sleep good, worried about that wind blowing. The trailer rocked side to side all night. But when we got up this morning, the air was still. And it was snowing.

05 snow in canyon — Snow blowing up out of the canyon.

I got dressed and walked over to the edge of the canyon to get some pictures. Mother Nature is awesome in her power out here.

06 apt today — This is the apartments across the street today.

I don’t know how much the official total of snow for today is so far, but it looks like about four inches. We are supposed to get more every day through Sunday. I’m glad I bought a lot of groceries!

07 home — Our trailer in our temporary site. The wind blew that door open on the storage shed next to Geogypsy's rig.

At least I have lots of warm clothes–looks like Spring isn’t here yet.

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Scenic Sunday

Karen · 8 Comments

helicopt pad snow day north rim — A snow storm at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon May 12, 2008.

This was taken at the helicopter pad at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was an awesome sight!

For more Scenic Sunday posts, click here.

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Snow Day Pictures

Karen · Leave a Comment

style="text-align: center;">The roadside in Smithgall Woods

Stopping by the wood on a snowy day.

The lodge at Smithgall Woods

Smith Lake at Unicoi State Park

Our trailer from the top of the hill. It is hard to see it in all that white.

Duke’s Creek where it crosses the road at Smithgall Woods.

Caution! Cross At Your Own Risk

The bridge over Duke’s Creek

The checkin office for the campground at Unicoi State Park

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We woke up on Thursday to 8 inches of snow! The weather guys on the Atlanta TV stations had all talked around it like the worst of the weather would be down to the south of us in Gainesville and Atlanta, but no, here it was up here in the mountains. FabGrandpa did not think we would get snow, if anything we were thinking it would be a cold drizzling rain. We were very surprised to have this much of the white stuff! The first picture here of our picnic table is to illustrate just how much of it we got.

This picture is of FabGrandpa standing under the awning, which is full of snow. It took him most of the afternoon to get it all off of the awning. Next time they start talking about snow, he will roll it up before we go to bed.

Here is a picture of the road into our section of the campground here at Unicoi State Park on Thursday morning. The park ranger made his rounds early, about as soon as the sun came up, to make sure there were no trees down in any of the roads. The next day, on Friday, they came by with a snowplow and scraped the road, because it did not melt off.

We had to go to Cleveland to get propane on Friday, so we drove around to see if we could find some “scenic” sights. We have driven past Smithgall Woods for years, never turning in to see it. Smithgall Woods is a Georgia State park site that was donated by the Smithgall family to preserve the natural forest area and Duke’s Creek. It is absolutely beautiful. I got several beautiful shots there, but this one is, well, unique. I think it would be too cold to use this outhouse, but isn’t it cute?

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