The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 314: South Rim Grand Canyon/Post C

Our morning's hike

A place like this lends itself to the metaphysical. After a mile and a half trek down the Bright Angel Trail, the first thing I heard was a woman explaining her belief system to a man who very politely indulged her, though he didn't look like he subscribed to her new age philosophy. She related, "I see each of us as a raindrop. As we fall through the sky and waver with the winds, our final resting place merges us with all the other droplets. We are, even as we live life as individuals, part of the greater pool of life." He didn't appear convinced, but I didn't hear his reply. It did make me think about the power of water. It's especially interesting given the fact that it took the Colorado River six million years to carve the Grand Canyon. Water, much stronger than rock over time, cannot be denied. It demonstrates infinite patience. We traversed some of that patient carving as we delved part way into the canyon (We travelled at least 1,000,000 years through geological time). None the worse for wear after we climbed back out, we chose to walk another three miles along part of the rim trail of the canyon. Signs declared that the earth is 4,560 million years old, and that people have lived in the canyon for 10,000 years. At least nine tribes claim the canyon, and some artifacts have been carbon dated as 4,000 years old (Pottery and twig figures). It's amazing since the Colorado River, with its swirling currents, sandpaper silt, and relentless pressure only carves the thickness of an ordinary piece of notebook paper each year. John Wesley Powell, in 1867, led the first geological exploration down the river in what appear to be suicide vessels: 16' long narrow wooden row boats. Other white men, mainly railroad tycoons tried to use this vast place as a means of commerce. Even to them, it must have been stunning to realize that before the dinosaurs were extinct, the Rocky Mountains were already rising, as was the great plateau of the Grand Canyon. 245 million years ago when the supercontinent, Pangea, broke up, and the islands from the vast pacific ocean collided with this land mass, the beginnings of the Grand Canyon appeared. As I said, a place like this lends itself to the metaphysical. Think in terms of God's time: Years-your birthday; Decades-your generation; Centuries-U.S. History; Millennia-ancient peoples; 10,000s-changing climate; 100,000s-earthquakes and volcanoes; Millions-a six million old Grand Canyon; Billions-the oldest rocks in Grand Canyon. It makes a guy wonder if God is finished polishing his rocks or digging his holes. I can tell you this. Today, I felt like a small pebble with sharp edges. I've a long way to go before I'm polished, so I hope there will be a tomorrow. Regardless, life is good, especially today.