We made it. We drove 3 days to see what boils down to a giant riverbed in the middle of the northern Arizona desert. I think of all the hype and superlatives. All the hoopla and “OMG” about a big chasm.
It’s just a canyon. I mean, right? Water…? Rock walls…? *eye roll* Big deal.
What I learned is that no amount of words or pictures could ever accurately depict the splendor of such a massive, intricately carved piece of earth. Done by nature. In the time that amounts to a whisper breath when compared to the age of this planet.
It’s big.
But looking down one cliff over the 190 mile length dwarfs the footprint where you stand. You become insignificant, a brief, cosmic passerby that comes and goes more quickly than a lightning flash.
It’s deep.
A mile, give or take, depending on the spot. The sheer vertigo-inducing cliffside that was carved by water and sediment over 6 million years (in a 1.4 trillion year history) gives you no better understanding of the power of water than running your hand under a faucet. It’s unfathomable. The element that sustains life, cleanses, heals, and refreshes also created THAT.
It’s colorful.
Every striation tells a story of various periods of the earth’s history. Hundreds of millenia of heaving, contracting, settling, shedding, building, and eroding are like a cross section of tree rings. Different types of rock, building blocks on each one before, makes up an incredible tapestry of color and texture.
I couldn’t take enough pictures. Just when I’d seen what I thought was plenty, we would reach another outcropping or vantage point that brought a new perspective.
To say that I was awestruck according to Mr. Webster’s definition would be accurate, but what I felt when taking in the enormity of the canyon and its breathtaking vistas can’t be described. Each person who visits will have an experience as unique as each feature within the canyon itself.
So, yes, it may be a cliché American family vacation, but it was worth every mile of road to get there.
The Top Left Corner Life 