Morning travellers, what’s up? For those of you visiting the Grand Canyon right now, hope you’re having a great time - sorry about all this wind, but at least the cloud cover is cooling things down a bit! Story for another time….
Anyhoo, right about now, we’re starting to talk to a lot of you planning a Grand Canyon vacation over 4th of July. And invariably, the question comes up about fireworks. Now you could NEVER EVER light them in the park. I mean don’t even think about it. But… normally, there are actually quite a few impressive fireworks shows in the various gateway communities outside the park: Flagstaff, Mormon Lake, Lake Powell, Williams….
Well, this year, Grand Canyon weather has been anything but normal. That in itself is not news. The Southwest has been in the midst of a drought, and it is expected to continue. (In the desert? Ya think?) Winter 2005 was one of the driest in recorded history, with snow not occuring at the Grand Canyon until – shoot, I think it was late February. I felt like a real moron, advising people to pack sweaters and they’d get here and wish they had shorts for Pete’s sake!
But moving on… As a result of that utter lack of moisture for the better part of a whole season, fire danger is through the roof this summer. Thankfully, the recent LaBarranca fire in beautiful Sedona was contained in relatively short order. Two homes burned, which is tragic, but it could have been much worse.
It has been well-known amongst Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona residents that fireworks were probably not gonna happen this year, and one community has now made it kinda-sorta official-ish for now: Flagstaff. Other communities in the area will certainly follow suit…. unless Mother Nature abruptly changes her mind and decides to let loose with a very moist monsoon season. Stranger things have been known to happen!
But even though this holiday will occur sans “rockets red glare,” hey, who needs ‘em? You’re out on the road seeing “the sights every American should see.” Heck, the sights every PERSON should see. A road trip through our National Park is the ultimate celebration of freedom. BUT – that doesn’t give you license to wing it.
For those of you who’ve already got everything booked, BUYA! The rest of you – plan ahead, have your ducks in a row (flight, rental car, hotels at various stops, tours, dinner reservations if you need them, etc.). Don’t expect to show up and be able to find a room. Mule ride? Get real.
I have been around hotels for a long ol’ time and I’ve seen many a family drive into the wee hours of the night looking for a room at Disneyland ’cause they didn’t make reservations. One of those families was mine. *sigh* Story for another time… but I’ve been helping people avoid those pitfalls since 1987. Call me.
And hey…… “Let’s Be Careful Out There.”
Alley Kaye, GrandCanyon.com
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