It was the Best and Worst Day of My Life!

  On Saturday, June 12th, I dropped Carl off at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon -it was partly cloudy and cool - perfect for a hike.  I drove around the Canyon and stopped at the vistas for video.  It was glorious and beautiful!  I was mostly alone until about 9 a.m.  I watched the sun come up over the canyon and walked the Trail of Time. That is a neat trail that marks each layer of the canyon with markers starting from today to 2 Billion years ago.  I watched a deer feed only a few feet from me and listened to the canyon birds sing.  What a wonderful experience alone in the canyon!
Then!  Well I needed to drive around to the North Rim to meet Carl.  It was about a 4 hour drive.  I'm not fond of driving long distances alone anyway but this was the absolute scariest drive of my whole life!  As I was leaving the Canyon, it started to hail!  I mean about quarter size hail!  It hailed and rained hard most of the way to Cameron.  Then the crosswinds from there were terrible.  I was white knuckling it the whole drive.  As I got to Lee's Ferry it slowed down a bit but then picked up as I was approaching the curving road up to Jacob Lake.  Usually you can see the road and the mountain as you approach but on this day all I could see was a dark cloud hovering over it.  When I passed Cliff Dwellers, it started to rain and hail again and continued up the mountain until I reached Jacob Lake!  I was praying and crying and holding the steering wheel so tight!  I was worrying about Carl hiking in this weather and worrying about my drive.  I was relieved to finally reach Jacob Lake and take a break.  I went in and sat down for lunch and some warmth from the fire place.  I heard some ladies near me talking about the drive to the North Rim.  I asked them to repeat it for me and my heart sunk!  They said it was snowing and there was already 3" of snow on the road!  I was petrified for me and Carl!  I don't care for driving in any bad weather at all and always opt to allow Carl to take over whenever it starts to get bad.  Well, I knew I was Carl's way home and that he would be looking for me when he came out - if he got out! I tried to calm myself and prepare for the drive ahead.  I finally left Jacob Lake at about 2:15p.m. and began the dreaded drive.  It was 45 miles to the Rim.  I kept telling myself - slow and steady speed will get you there.  As I drove, sure enough it began to snow.  I seemed to be the only one traveling toward the canyon and that made me more scared.  Soon it was snowing hard and in some places it was so hard that it seemed like a blizzard because I couldn't see too far in front of me on these winding roads.  I did finally reach the entrance of the canyon and asked how much further to the trailhead where I was to meet Carl.  11 miles more!  I was almost devastated!  The ranger assured me that it would be better at that spot and to keep going, I would be fine.  So I took a deep breath and continued on.  It continued to snow and in one particular spot the snow was so deep that it rubbed the bottom of the truck!  I did go slow and steady and arrived at the rim about 3:30.  Pretty good time considered how slow I was going but I was certainly relieved to arrive.  I had to scrape the snow off the windows so it wouldn't freeze up on the windshield wipers.  I saw some guys come out of the canyon just after I arrived and asked how the trail was.  They were not encouraging!  They said it was snowing and slippery!  I really worried then!  I was cold and I knew Carl would be cold and shivering when he came out.  I didn't know what clothes he had packed in his pack but I was hopeful he was prepared for anything.  At about 5 p.m. the sun came out and the snow melted and steam was rising from the road.  I prayed so hard for the next few hours.  I watched as several people emerged from the trail always hoping it was Carl.  Finally at about 6 p.m. a man approached the truck and tapped on the window.  He asked if I was Carl's wife and said he was about 15 minutes behind him and he was fine.  I nearly jumped out of the truck I was so happy!  I couldn't wait to see him.  I forgot to get my video camera to video him coming out but I was so happy to see him alive and well!  I sure hope I never experience another day like that one!  The drive out of the Canyon was uneventful.  The snow had melted off the road mostly and the rain and hail was finally gone.  I will post pictures of the road and snow.  You won't believe this was the weather on June 12th!