Grouchy at the Grand Canyon
Navajo Point
(The Grand Canyon, Arizona–Utah)
Sometimes everything just goes wrong: Someone bails on you; sleep escapes you so you get a cranky late start packing out and getting on the road; the ghosts of loved ones past haunt your thoughts; your Antelope Canyon tour gets cancelled due to rain, then you get pulled over for angry speeding through a two block town in the middle of the freeway.
By you, I mean me, and I was holding back tears as the nice, young officer asked me how my day was going. “Pretty rough. And now the trend continues.” I croaked out, handing over my license. “They got me too!” screamed a man in solidarity from a giant truck passing the other direction. I guess my luck was changing, because he let me off with a warning that I needed to watch it going forward. Flabbergasted, I drove slowly past the four consecutive speed traps of officers who might not have been so nice, and was on my way to get my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon.
SO BIG
I downloaded an audio tour that was triggered by landmarks, which provided a nice bit of history and context for my first time in one of the most popular attractions in the country. There are 11 Native American tribes that have historic connections to the canyon: The Havasupai live in the last remaining tribal village inside the canyon, and are the gatekeepers to such wonders as Havasu Falls. Navajo, Southern Paiute, and Hualapai communities border the canyon. Hopi, Zuni, and Apache live in the surrounding area. The Spanish “discovered it” and mapped it in 1540, and it became more accessible in the late 1800’s but it had a rocky road to National Parkdome, finally making the cut in 1919. Apparently the U.S. government didn’t see its value. Imagine that?
I stopped at several breathtaking viewpoints along the popular East Rim, swarming with people, and hiked to Ooh Aah point on the South Kaibab Trail. When they say the descent is steep and the way back up is brutal, they are not lying. There was a big horned sheep galloping down the narrow trail, and weirdly, I ran into the couple with the woman I’d coached up Cathedral Rock in Sedona, so I guess she made it down! The winds of chance were so strong that I felt I might get blown over the edge, and the view sort of remained the same, as it was a switchback down the steep canyon wall, so I turned back instead of continuing down to Skeleton Point. Next time I’d do the famed Bright Angel Trail and come with a day to spare. Apparently some prospector claimed the trail as his own through a loop hole as the park was being formed and charged people to travel down it for years, so the park created the Kaibab trail to give people a free option. Both seem fairly punishing, but Bright Angel looked a bit more interesting from the top.
South Kaibab Trail
The view of the great, gaping canyon with a river snaking through it was stunning from every angle, and enormous in a way that blows your mind, but my heart wasn’t in it. Part of the road was closed to cars and required shuttle access, and I was the last one cut off from entering, so I had to wait for the next. The sun was dropping and so was the temperature, and I had not brought my jacket. I decided to call it as dark clouds rolled in, and went to warm my bones with a bowl of bison chili and a whisky, neat. I’m glad I did, because a frigid lightning storm raged through the canyon as dark settled, flashing electric on the horizon.
Moran Point
The next day was more of the same for my sourpuss: 30 minute wait for coffee, and I just missed the cut off for the Tower view. I hit a bunch of breathtaking viewpoints that seemed to blur together, and even a pair of majestic elk gave me no thrill. I numbly drove on out of the park and made my way to Horseshoe Bend, which was amazing, until I got rained out. Then I drove around looking to replace my canyon tour with no luck, so I went and ate some cold ribs at a local BBQ joint.
Horseshoe Bend
I really needed to reset my mindset, and so I put on the audiobook of Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements and it really put things into perspective. Ruiz reminds us that everything we have—friendships, relationships, our children and family, our career, our possessions—are really just on loan from the Angel of Death, for us to use for now. Whether it be the little death of a life together, and all the collateral damage of friends choosing sides to make one person or another feel vindicated in their pain, or a death that is more final, the end will come for everything we love. This may sound morbid, but to me it’s inspiring. All we ever have is RIGHT NOW, so what will you do with that Truth? I chose to stop putting my dreams on hold and to get out there and explore this life.
South Kaibab Trail
Grounded once more in the truth that got me here, I rolled into Saint George, Utah, looking for a good place to watch the sunset. I found a giant red rock overlooking the town and climbed up it. I was not alone: The local high school dance troop was up there twirling about, and several cozy couples took in the golden sky. It was simple, beautiful, and from the storm clouds, a rainbow bloomed, and brought a moment of grace.
