The best part of any vacation is thinking back over the day and trying to remember how it started. The trip to the Grand Canyon was supposed to be the pinnacle of our trip. The epitome of every good american road trip, to gaze into the belly of the river eroded beast in wonder. The problem is just that though, everyone from every country knows that this is an amazing landmark.

The accents around the viewing sites of the canyon more of the european variety as we heard people popping open wine bottles and clapping during the sunset. Clapping. During. a sunset. As if it’s the protagonist at the end of a movie. Cool Hand Luke eating 50 eggs or something. They clapped. There was one couple who had to be in their mid 40s to early 50s who climbed to a lower portion of the canyon that was far too dangerous of a climb for unseasoned hikers and tourists. I would have paid to be them, but Amy and I climb to a ledge of our own to get away from the sounds of americans teaching europeans how to use the various settings on their cannon cameras.

It was exactly as everyone describes. incredible and i can’t help, but wonder how people felt as they found it for the first time. centuries of rock layered in a perfect order compounding plants and animals into crystal and stone with stories we can only imagine that they tell through their bones. forging the first hikable paths down. managing to find enough food and water to last journies and attempting to describe to others the unimaginable beauty and vast emptiness of the place.

That’s the best part is the dicotomy of the insane amount of people crowded on the overhang gazing at the largest most graceful crack in the earth that anyone has ever seen. So much space, so little time to explore it.

People are constantly snapping photos for almost an hour prior to sunset since it cast shadows and light on crevasses in such unusal ways. People come here over and over finding that wind has eroded mounds into pillars and pillars into points. There’s a feeling of I made it, from everyone around this strange bonding of naturalness as we all relish in savoring a few more moments of brightly orange lit sky.

Few sets will match this one.