And then the malevolent snowman whispered unto me, “Yellow ice custard, dripping from a cold mule’s eye. Snow igloo canyon wife, digitalis priestess, Boy, you been a naughty man you let your thermals down, I am the iceman, they are the icemen, I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob”. Then he winked and said, “Seriously, I am not dead, I’m merely frozen.” I don’t know if I got the shivers because I was cold, enlightened, or maybe a little crazy. But here we are out at the Grand Canyon National Park.

After the snowman gave us instructions to follow the long and winding snow path that leads to your door, we were soon walking rim-side bundled up and warm with my tripod gently weeping. Along the trail, we can’t help but notice all the cold people begging the question, where do they all come from? Ok, enough of the Beatle’s homages. We are here in the Grand Canyon for serious business. Today is Caroline’s birthday.

Up before dawn, we left Phoenix around 6:30 for the 217-mile (351km) drive north to the canyon. Snow and cold greeted us not far from Flagstaff and stayed with us for the rest of the day. Along the canyon rim, the roads were snowy but drivable without chains – slowly. Our first stop was at the visitors center, followed by a short walk that took us out to Mather Point (this photo is just above). While we had on long undies, down vests, gloves, and hats, it was immediately obvious we would need to don our shell pants and jackets, fleece jackets, and the all-important balaclavas. With cold ears burning at your skull, all the core warmth in the world will be for nothing. All wrapped up, we were ready for a serious hike.

First, though, we slowly drove to the Bright Angel Lodge, checked in, and lunched at the El Tovar before embarking into the cold outdoors. With a canyon full of fog, temperatures of 29 degrees (-1c), and a wind chill of 23 degrees (-5c), we were not about to slog down the Bright Angel Trail to Indian Gardens on this fine frozen day. Our options were sipping hot chocolate at the lounge in the El Tovar Hotel or a casual stroll 2.8 miles back to Mather Point along the Rim Trail and a bus ride back. We knuckled down and took the cold, hard adventure.

Speaking of adventure. Yes, we are in part here since today is Caroline’s birthday, but we also have taken ourselves cliffside to commemorate the signing of a check that is a deposit on an upcoming Grand Canyon adventure, which, for the two of us, will likely be one of the greatest experiences of our lives. It was just our luck that two people canceled their reservations for an 18-day dory trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. After many a conversation with nearly all the girls who work for the wonderful company OARS who answered all my questions, sent me literature, and dealt with even more phone calls, we finally received our invoice with instructions to send in our deposit. Not satisfied with just signing another check, I needed a momentous location to bear witness to our probably-once-in-a-lifetime grand adventure; what better backdrop than the Grand Canyon itself?

Now, with the ritual accomplished, there was little to do besides take in the foggy, mysterious beauty of the canyon on a day like no other we had seen while visiting this National Park. Other visitors shivered and walked briskly; we lingered and inspected the wintery details around us, staring into what should have been an abyss, where occasionally the fog would lift, and hints of the breadth and grandeur of this place that lay shrouded in winter hiding below would be exposed only to fall back into obscurity as air currents changed and fog once again blocked our view but opened new horizons of imagination of just what the many faces of the Grand Canyon can show those who desire to witness their beauty.