The Grand Canyon

When I last left off, we had just checked into a hotel in Williams, AZ after a long day driving on I-40. Later we posted our Mother's Day videos and after that our lack of time and slow internet combined with exhaustion pretty much stopped me from posting. So I'll continue now starting with our day at the Grand Canyon.

Everyone experiences The Canyon differently. For me, it was my third trip there and it happens to be one of my favorite places in the world. It represents much of the Earth to me, as well as some significant personal family memories I cherish. However, the Canyon is big, and can be hard to take in. Looking at it in real life can feel like you're looking at a picture or painting. It almost seems unreal. If you're not careful, the whole thing can turn into a giant existential crisis. 

In fact despite this being my third visit, and even having experienced a trip to the bottom of the canyon and back up again, I still felt as if there was a little shield up between me and the canyon. The hazy day didn't help, and the really strong winds made it feel as if we were fighting a physical force just to be there. 

We decided to hike around some of the rim trail and also down some of the first part of the Bright Angel trail. At times, we felt like the Canyon was trying to swallow us up. Maybe it was. 

You see, the Canyon is not just a big ditch or another National Park or something to take pictures of. Maybe it was the timing, or the pace, or the vast empty space, but once we got to the Canyon we all got hit with our own versions of Crisis. Mark and I were suddenly confronted with our journey, our recent months of grief, the reality of the months and years to come, and we felt the weight of exhaustion and Life being Hard like we've never felt it before. 

The Canyon is beautiful, and Grand, but also fierce. Also it was cold and windy. We made the most of it though, and still stopped to enjoy many of its best views. 

photo credit: Stephanie Lingwood

We left the Canyon that night, tired, quiet with our own thoughts, and fully aware of many miles we had left in our journey. We made it to Flagstaff where we stopped for the night, making Sunday one of only two days in our entire expedition that we woke up and fell asleep in the same state. At the end of the day, the reality of just how far we had left to go started to sink in. But we plowed on!

photo credit: Stephanie Lingwood

A rare image of Mark in his natural habitat,
photo credit Stephanie Lingwood

FYI this is yet another post that I had a hard time picking pictures. Between Mark and Stephanie we got some amazing shots. Be sure to check out the whole album in our picasa web albums!