And As The Sun Sets On This Week

I thought it would be a good wrap-up to the week to end on a positive note. After three deaths this week, one begins to wonder what it is about the canyon that draws people in to the potential death-trap. I found myself wondering this after a long, hard week, where my body finally rebelled against my new lifestyle and had what a coworker described as an "altitude crash." Meaning, essentially, that every once in a while you get tired, lethargic, and progress backwards in your acclimation to being at 7,000 feet.

And I picked one hell of a time to overwork myself physically: the week the CDC study was here! So not only was I exhausted all week, but I've been pretty much eating whatever I find in the pantry. Overall, not the best week here in the Grand Canyon.

It was with this overall lackluster that I went out to meet the CDC team for a BBQ and s'mores out at some point towards Desert View. Thanks to a lack of knowledge of the eastern canyon and a cell phone that is best used as a paperweight here, I drove around mindlessly for about an hour looking for signs of cars or people that I could recognize.

As I was looking to the left, a tourist two cars in front of me decided to turn in to a lookout at the last second, causing the car in front of me to slam on their breaks, and thus, when I looked back right at the last possible second, I too slammed on my breaks and took a full-on header into my steering wheel. I managed to avoid the SUV ahead of me, by inches. I can only wonder what I've done to my breaks and tires.

Eventually, though, I did find the road, walked about 20 minutes up a blocked pathway and found the team already in BBQ mode. We were at Shoshoni point, a lesser known area where there are grills to use and an amazing view of the canyon at sunset.


(a condor flying into the sunset)



It was truly amazing to be sitting at a picnic table shooting the breeze with a large drop off just fifteen yards to your right. To add to this experience, there's a rock outcropping here you can crawl out to--only if you have good balance! Do not attempt in flip flops! The way out is loose rock!





We hung out, made s'mores (ok, I sat and someone else made me a s'more), and it really reminded me that yes, there is life outside of the park. It was the first time in a long time that I felt like a real human person--out and interacting and laughing. And thanks to this visit, I now have really begun thinking about continuing on with this project and getting my masters.

And so as the sun sets on this week, I once again feel like I have a purpose, a direction.