The ice and snow made things quite tough early Tuesday but I only saw three! people from the rim down to 1 1/2 rest house. It was like having the canyon to myself.
So quiet.
[/QUOTE]
Last year while the park was closed down they allowed park residents to do day hikes down into the canyon. I was able to get 8 hikes in before it started getting to hot for me. I saw very few other people on those hikes almost all on my way back up since I started hiking early in the morning. The last one I did was on the Hermits and only saw one ranger the whole time. Like you said “so quiet”. The six weeks the park was shut down was so amazing, there was nothing going on at all no shuttle or tour buses, no helicopters or airplanes flying overhead, all construction stopped, a large amount of park employees had left almost no vehicle traffic period. It was “so quiet”, the park was totally relaxed you could see it in the wildlife. I’ve been working here for 8 years and that time will be the highlight of my time here a once in a lifetime event.