This is the amazing picture we captured from the experience. It was beautiful, otherworldly even.What you don’t see are the hikers behind this picture.
Greg and I were exhausted. Tired of stopping for breaks, we had put our heads down and stumbled on ahead of our group, desperate to get to camp and take off our shoes so we could assess the damage that was so easily felt on our now blister-encased feet. I was close to throwing up, it was around 100 degrees, my shirt was soaked, I didn’t have much left to give, and Greg was in much the same state. We had finally reached the bottom of the Grand Canyon, after a 10 mile hike, which wouldn’t have been that hard if it weren’t for the 40 and 60 lb packs (respectively), the constant downhill (3,000 foot elevation drop total) and the sand that sucked the energy out of you. We had just come around a corner, and our hearts dropped because it was yet another steep, sandy, loose-rock encrusted hill, and we still couldn’t see the campsite.
Then Greg looked up and over, and gaped. I shuffled/slid over to him, and asked what was wrong, then I looked at what he was staring at, and saw this.
And for almost a whole minute we had nothing to say.
It’s amazing how beauty can eclipse pain and frustration, and completely captivate you regardless of surrounding circumstances.
beautiful
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