Grand Canyon Railway

Grand Canyon Railway trip report "To know the Canyon is to love it? Not necessarily. Crawling up the Tannertrail some moonlight night in August without food or water, you will hatetheCanyon.Bitterly. That pale rim so far above, higher than five Empire StateBuildingspiled one upon another seems inaccessable as Heaven, remote as salvation.Butif you survive, if you make it, you learn to despise not the Canyon, butyourown fear and foolishness, in being unprepared, and return again and again,ready to risk everything for one more intimate encounter with the mostsublime place on the planet. Who could ask for a finer place than ourCanyonin which to taste life deeply by risking life? By hanging it over theedge?" Edward Abbey Down theRiverThis Grand Canyon adventure was designed for a fun weekend getaway.Ger and I took off for Williams late Friday afternoon. Williams is 30mileswest of Flagstaff. The plan was to spend the night in Williams and thencatchthe Grand Canyon railway to the South rim the next morning. We arrived inWilliams around 7:00 P.M. and checked into a Best Western in the pines. Weenjoyed a great dinner at Rose's Cantina. The margaritas were great.The next morning we woke to find snow flurries outside our window and alight blanket of snow on the ground.We arrived at the train station at 9:30 and caught a short Western showwithcharacters that would entertain us on the train..The train ride takes about two hours and was very pleasant. The people onthetrain were great. We were served 8oz. bottles of real coca cola withstraws.We were entertained by a young cowboy fiddler. The scenery went from sparsepines to plateau and then into the dense Kaibab forrest.When we arrived at the South Rim it was seriously snowing and the wind waswhipping. The chill factor was close to 0. Ger wanted to do a hike, so webraved the elements and went a few miles on the Rim trail. It was a littlechilly, our faces suffered just minor frostbite.The sun did come out a few times and provided excellent views of the heartofCanyon. The Canyon is gorgeous when blanketed in snow.We wanted to have lunch in the famous El Tovar (Where Bubba Clintonstayed)but could not get in, so we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, andshivering inside the bar, where we settled for snacks.The trip back was also fun, with several events, that included the trainbeing robbed by bandits.No weekend getaway is complete without EL Lobo finding a souveneir. Itcamein the form of a route 66 ceramic gas pump. The old legendary highway runsright through Williams.This is a fun trip and highly recommended. The service is first class, andthe railway keeps cars from polluting the Canyon.It was really nice to visit the canyon and not have to drag my $%& out ofthere. I will be back in three weeks for a backpack down the Tanner overtheBeemer to the confluence of the little Colorado and back out the Tanner.Thisis another four day trip of 38 miles jammed into three days.