Thanksgiving Road Trip

South Rim Grand Canyon (Desert View side)

Dead Horse Point, Utah State Park

Dead Horse Point

Natural Bridges National Monument

Windy, narrow, gravel, steep road off of 2000 foot high plateau down into wide valley near Mexican Hat, Utah (Mokee Dugway, Hwy 261)

Grand Canyon

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Near Monument Valley

Grand Canyon South Rim

Catching the sunrise at Grand Canyon

Serene calm right before sunrise

THE RIM

We stand on the South Rim

Waiting for sunlight.

Tourists gather

like so many ants

at Yavapai Point.

Upright like small stone

columns, they're motionless

on the overlook,

while trails of others

try to wedge in for a view.

Raven caws clash

against the constant

murmur of human voice

blending as it echoes

off Bright Angel Canyon.

Slowly, the temple tops illuminate:

Vishnu, Zoroaster, Shiva;

the scene brings silence.

Shadow-curtains drop

exposing layered limestone,

Kaibab, Redwall, Tapeats,

too many types to remember.

I walk away from the crowds;

find a spot alone.

My mind mingles with the majesty.

I become a condor

soaring out over the edge,

carried high by updrafts of solitude.

Chants of the Anasazi

beckon me to listen.

I think I hear.

I think I see.

I can't comprehend.