Grand Canyon National Park

My final National Park on this trip is… The Big One.  The Grand Canyon.  One of the natural wonders of the world.

On my knees at the glorious altar of geological worship, the Colorado Plateau’s exquisite beauty is the draw for the millions who visit Grand Canyon National Park annually.  Like the rings of a tree, the canyon’s striations reveal billions of years of nature’s deft hand–the tilting, folding and crinkling of the land; epochs of orogeny, colliding plates.  Then rivers made wild by their new track cut away, imparting a spectrum of influence on the range of rock types within its layers.  It is as if you’re looking through time–while the canyon continues its dance, eroding still, indetectable under your feet. 

While many commuovere to tears in its sight, my making this claim would not be a distinguishment. I cry all the time–raw and open to emotional deliverance in any and all forms. And if I’m bored in an emotion, I may even make myself cry on purpose. None of this is sadness–it’s just that emotions are how I determine value, place memory, take myself for a ride, learn, learn, learn. So yeah, this was something else. Numinous. Sublime. Dwarfing. Catalytic, is one I like. In spite of the haze of August’s heat and the wild fires in California, the canyon did its thing.

Rented a bike to ride along the rim.

That horse sauntered my way, gave me a good stare before rotating 180 degrees and letting out the mother load of excrement. I was LOLing. What a horses’s ass!

My cabin right inside the park was gorgeous–the whipping canyon winds blowing throughout it during the evening. Made for an easy way to hawk the night sky, too.

And my vegan meal from El Tovar. It was not that great for the price–mushroom-stuffed mushroom creativity… but here it is. Other National Parks have better vegan options. (Like Grand Teton–holy moley!)