Breathtaking, Awe Inspiring, Unrivaled Beauty

I wish I had the words to describe the beauty I saw today. I wish I was a poet or a painter or a photographer so I could in some small way capture the beauty that overwhelmed me beyond anything I have ever experienced before. I managed to take just about 100 pictures in less than two hours and yet not a single one conveys what I saw and felt at the Grand Canyon.


Something I didn't expect of this trip was the amount of pride in America it would instill in me. Our country is so beautiful, it holds so many natural wonders, so many well designed cities, and so much space. I have been lucky enough to see a large number of places across Europe, Morocco, Israel, and North America, but nothing I have ever seen can compare to the Grand Canyon. I always internally laughed when people talked with pride about their trips to the Canyon. It seemed so cliche and silly. Just a big hole in the earth is all it was to me.

But then Cara and I drove across the wide expanse of mountains and hills and desert between Flagstaff and the southern edge of the Canyon, and suddenly we were at the rim of the most spectacular drop-off I cannot describe. You look down into a pit for what seems like forever. You can't quite see the bottom at first, and eventually you think you've spotted it. But no. And then, maybe that's it? No, that's just another path. And finally, you see some water flowing through the bottom, a tiny blue dot thousands of feet below you. It felt like my eyes were drinking water for the first time in my life, as if my soul had been lifted up beyond myself.


We hiked down a trail, into the "depths of Hades" as the park ranger described it, for about an hour or so, then we went to another trail on the ridge of the canyon. After that we ate some sandwiches in the car and drove to have a dealer look at the damage. He told us to wait and get it fixed in Los Angeles, so we napped for a bit at the hostel and then went back to the Canyon. Because what else is there to do but go back? We picked up dinner on the way and then drove the hour and a half back where we sat on the rim of the Canyon and ate some really great Mexican food while watching the sunset. After the ravines had been reduced to blackness we lay down on the ground and watched the stars for an hour or so. Finally we dragged ourselves back to the car and drove back to the hostel.

Tomorrow we'll be driving the seven hours to L.A. and then our International Theatre Festival fun will begin.