Upon our arrival to Tucson, we loaded up the car (after a quick shower) and headed north towards Flagstaff. No flight recovery time for us - we were on the go. We were going to see the Grand Canyon!
I was concerned that we hadn't allowed for much time on the site, but, as it turned out, the timing was perfect. We arrived late in the afternoon and witnessed the changing colors of the canyon. First, beiges, pinks and gold, and then turning to darker blues and purples as the sun descended. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought that I was looking at a painting, and I can well understand the inspiration for "Southwest" colors. I never before thought of the Grand Canyon as a spiritual place, but, once there, my insignificant humanness became emphasised and I felt humbled by what my eyes beheld.
We walked the rim of the canyon for a few hours, did a bit of local shopping, and then returned again for sunset. To say that the Grand Canyon is magnificent, is an understatement. This "hole in the ground" hides millions of years of history. It's at once a hostile environment that still manages to teem with life. While we were there, we saw desert rats, eagles, and elk. At dusk, the elk came out to forage for food and they took my breath away. I've never seen such a magnificent animal in all my life. Too see bull elks in the wild made me think of my pagan ancestors who revered the wild stag. At that moment, I understood why.
The whole trip turned out to be an amazing experience, one that I hope to repeat in my lifetime.
(Click on photos below to enlarge.)
Labels: Arizona, Grand Canyon, Holiday, Mother Nature |
posted by Melanie O. at 
