Covered in snow and beautiful, it looked as if someone had spent a long time crafting it. It was nearly perfect in all it's features. I couldn't take my eyes off of it until Halearious yelled at me, "Matthew, stop looking at the snowman. The Grand Canyon is right there."
She was right. The Grand Canyon was only a few feet away, but "Frostino" had grabbed my attention. He had such cute buttons, and was so small. "Oh, Shmallsh."
I moved away.
My eyes drifted back to the canyon. We had been there for a few hours at this point taking in different parts of the canyon. It was truly amazing. Upon first sight, it really is breath taking. You've either been there and know what I am talking about, or seen pictures and should come and find out, because words won't do it justice, and neither will the pictures we took.
It's been said that Helen of Troy had a face "that launched a thousand ships." I would like to say, then, that the Grand Canyon is a crevasse that has spurred a million road trips. Gorgeous and spectacular as anything I've ever seen, it doesn't disappoint. It really is overwhelming and hard to process.
We rolled up on the Southern Rim around 2PM. It was a spectacular sunny day. There had been a storm the previous day so there was still fresh snow covering everything but the roads, which made it a perfect day to travel up. In all the time I studied Geology, and all the pictures of the canyon that I saw, I don't remember a single one of them with snow on it. The snow only added to it's beauty and wonderment.
They say the Grand Canyon is three to six million years old and in that time has managed to carve a mile deep through rocks that are hundreds of million years old over a course that is 277 miles long. Hard for the human brain to fathom. From the top, when you finally do see the Colorado River down at the bottom, the river looks small and harmless. It looks motionless in fact. How could it do this?
Obviously, the river did not act alone. There is wind, rain, ice all adding there efforts in the erosion of the rocks, but still: How did this happen?
Six million years, a river, and persistence and you get one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Makes you realize that you should never give up if you really want something.
As we travel along the canyon checking out the different vantage points, I try to imagine what it was like for the Native Americans when they first came across the canyon unexpectedly on foot. Or, what it was like for the first European explorer, the captain in Coronado's group when he "discovered" it on foot / horseback. It must have been incredible.
I was blown away and I knew about it. Drove from Phoenix at 80MPH. And came within a hundred feet by car.
But that walk up to the Grand Canyon when the horizon slowly drops and your eyes perceive the massiveness, both depth and girth, and you are overwhelmed by the colors and layers of all the rocks, I'm guessing that walk might still be the same. You are never fully prepared.
After Halearious beckons me away from Frostino, I walk back to her side. I had just gotten the rocks that the Tarot Card reader had given us from my jacket, which was in the car. We had finally found a place along the canyon where we were alone. The quiet was spectacular. I gave Halearious her rock and held mine. We took a picture of the rocks in hand, stood in silence thinking about what we needed to think about, and then on the count of three we threw them into the canyon.
The silence was perfect. Broken only by Halearious's call, "Aw man, my throw sucked." I tried to reassure her that destiny did not and had never expected her throw to be great, but she was dead-set. "I should have thrown it straight," she says. I'm not sure that was the point so I stand in silence. We stand there for a while talking, taking pictures, and just enjoying everything about the canyon. Onward we decide. More to see.
The day is filled up with driving around looking at the canyon from many vantage points, taking pictures, seeing large black crows and deer, Halearious trying to talk to them as if they were Smallz, and more driving.
The sun sets and we are back in our hotel room ready to relax. "Forrest Gump" is on. A perfect ending.
It had been a perfect day. One that had started with me waking up at 8AM and immediately checking the weather, road conditions, checking in with friends and family around Flag Staff, and then finally realizing that Mother Nature had given us approximately a 30-hour window between storms, and it was time to go. I woke up Halearious and we were out the door within 20 minutes. Our friend Cadoo (pronounced CAD-DEW) could not believe how quickly it all happened. Commenting, "I've never seen a decision made so quickly."
It may have appeared quick, but this was seven-plus years in the making. The hour was upon us. We were ready. The tarot card reader had prepared us, and we jumped.
The Jetta held up beautifully as we raced up towards the Canyon, which sits at 6,000+ feet above sea level. Two thousand feet, 3,000 feet, 4,000 feet, 5,000 feet, 6,000 feet through Flagstaff all the while the speedometer was pinned at 80MPH. We were coming and we were coming fast (that's what she said). As we hurtled upwards and onwards toward the canyon the temperature kept dropping. We pulled in for gas at Flagstaff and were back on the road within minutes; we were fast becoming Nascar-esque with our pit-stops. Gas filling, bathroom breaking, water buying all happen virtually simultaneously. The excitement built, as we got closer.
As the clock struck 1:30PM, we were pulling through the gates of Grand Canyon National Park. We were not the first, nor will we be the last to reach the Grand Canyon, but this by no means made the trip any less special. Hell, we had the rocks at the bottom to prove it.
Our road trip had hit it's acme. Now, it's back to Phoenix, and on to Los Angeles on Friday. We will enjoy the end as we had enjoyed the beginning - greatly.
Godspeed,
Groundswell
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