July 6, Day 6 Road Trip

The Grand Canyon, a religious experience

http://twitpic.com/9j2jc – Majestic view of the Grand Canyon, North Rim. Pictures don’t do it justice… 3:15 PM Jul 6th, 2009 via TwitP

Yes! Today is the day we are head to the Grand Canyon. As beautiful as Zion Canyon was, it was difficult to say good bye. Also, the cooler temperature helped as well. Steve assured us that the Grand Canyon would be cooler yet and Steve insisted on hitting the road. We were headed the North Rim, despite a recommendation we received at Zion from a couple of people that said the South Rim was beautiful AND had amazing caves we could explore as well. But alas, Steve’s heart was set on showing us the North Rim, so that’s where we were headed.

It took us several hours to reach the North Rim State  Park, but the drive was scenic. We were acutely aware we were climbing in elevation since it wasn’t’ as hot out as it had been. We saw herds of buffalo in the fields, and the surrounding vegetation was much more lush than the brown and gold desert variety we had seen the previous days.

We reached the  North Rim State  Park and we were all so excited to see the Grand Canyon! I had been told that a common experience among people standing at the rim, is overwhelming feeling of insignificance, that the the immenseness of scale of the canyon creates the perspective that we shouldn’t really take our life all to seriously. And you know what, I got it. The group explored the trails around the canyon, walking on the glass bottom walkway and hang out in the lodge for a bit. The Grand Canyon was entirely a peaceful place to be and appreciate the beauty of nature.

After a cappuccino, we headed out, to look for a place to camp, out there in the wilderness. Steve said he and his dad camped off the road a bit so that’s what we were going to do. About 3 miles down the road, we came upon another mirador and stopped to admire the views from this point at the canyon. Miro and I settled on a bench at one of the viewing points checking out the majestic scene as Steve and Greg explored the other points.

About 10 minutes later, Steve comes heading our way with an eager look on his face. He came over to where we were sitting and said “I thought you’d like to know, the man coming over here now was just at the look at point I was at. I overheard his conversation with a woman. She said ‘Beautiful, isn’t it.’ and he said, ‘Yes, but too bad it will all be destroyed in the rapture’.”
Ugh.. there’s not a whole lot in this world  I like less than proselytizing zealots.
I looked over to see the man approaching.

I looked at Miro and said “Go along with me, k?”

He nodded.

Steve stood back as I watched a chubby man with a red face, dressed in overalls approach us, on route to appreciate the view from the look at point in front of us. I moved my legs into a cross position, and with my best  raspy Stevie Nicks voice  barked an authoritative order to Miro: “Child, fetch me some rocks so we can make the sacred pentagram in the dirt just there. As you know, we need to perform our pagan rituals before the sun goes down.”
Miro got up, and looked at me.
I said to him “Go!” and then I started to chant the sounds “yiiiiii yiiiiiiiii yiiiiiiii yiiiiiiii” in what sounded like a  holler monkey’s high pitch mating call.

The chubby faced man looked at me in horror and turned immediately about face in the opposite direction.

We watched him leave and roared with laughter!

After that, the mood was lightened and we found an amazing place to camp for the night in a wooded area.

Greg & Steve relax with a beer.

All is good at the North Rim and the zealots have retreated.