Saturday, June 12, 2020

It's 7:30 AM.  The sun is up.  The temperature is down.  Down so far that Fred, at his laptop across the table from me, is wearing a sweatshirt, a jacket, a ski cap and gloves.  Both the furnace and space heater are running full blast.  And we're still cold.

Although yesterday morning was sunny, clouds started moving in around 10.  Rain showers, gentle at first, began shortly after noon and picked up in frequency and intensity as the afternoon progressed.  By five, we were in the midst of bouts of hail, thunder and lightning as the temperature plunged.  We were awkened by thunder throughout the night--hearing first a low rumble from miles away that rolled closer and louder until exploding directly over the RV with jolting crashes and flashes.

Tomorrow and Monday are our days off and the forecast isn't auspicious for hiking or biking--chilly temperatures and thunderstorms.

About noon, big fluffy snowflakes started lazily drifting from the gray sky then became smaller and smaller as they fell faster and faster.  By mid-afternoon travelers reported National Park authorities had closed the road to Cape Royal and Point Imperial due to slippery conditions.  Those heading toward the North Rim from Jacob Lake said there was at least 4" of a snowy-slushy mixture on the road at elevation 8840'. 

Although our sales of long-sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and socks sky-rocketed, many drivers stopped at the store for respite from the weather and driving conditions rather than for supplies.  A father and his 17- or 18-year old son came in for repairs to the son's brand-new Suzuki, whose spark plug was shorting out from water leaking into the well.  The son was wet, cold and very obviously completely disillusioned with the whole father-son motorcycle road-trip idea.  Fortunately, dad, a professional mechanic, was able to jury-rig a temporary fix with paper towels, duct tape and Vaseline.  The snow slackened a bit, a weak sun peeked through the clouds, son warmed up (several cups of hot cocoa helped with that) and they decided to resume the adventure.

Late in the afternoon, the sun came out, temps rose into the low 40s and snow began to melt from the road and meadows.  It went into the low 30s/upper20s overnight and patches of snow still lingered in the woods and at the edges of the meadows by morning.  It felt and looked way too much like winter for us and we looked forward to 'getting off the mountain' and being warm in Kanab.