When I see pictures of my friends’ visits to the Grand Canyon, their reaction plus the mediocre name (and not to mention its role in the movie Joe Dirt) have always impressed upon me a skeptical expectancy of one of America’s greatest natural sights. Being one of the shortest driving days, we arrived before the day’s light descended to sleep; quite a rare and exciting event for our trip. The parking lot was full- California, California, Arizona, Washington, California, Colorado- and the thought of a tiny, railed sight packed with overweight families taking pictures added to my excitement of seeing the biggest let down America has to offer. We strolled across the newly laid blacktop towards a row of young evergreens; brown faint peaks emerged beyond their green tops. “There it is,” was what we all half-drudgingly mummbled. But unlike my expectations, the peaks did not level off, did not lead to a boring brown vastness, did not fall short of an amazing, natural wonder. The brown peaks dropped into an endless depth, spread into an infinite breadth, exposed shifting hues and variety of color that can only be appreciated in person. There were fewer families taking pictures and more young, foreign couples or small groups of aging Americans making fruition of their childhood dreams. Much like describing the stars, there is no way to capture its immensity without placing yourself before its beauty.
-Al Rodgers
