Canyons are big medicine. Rivers cut through huge rocks over eons and bring water and shade and sound. Wind whips through the crevice in the land and shapes the sides and polishes the rocks clean.
The canyon floor is green from the river that wanted the change in these ancient red rocks. The water and the sun bring the growth of life, the wind brings the casual passage of time.
Sun, water, wind and time - four elements God uses to create canyons.
Courage, spirit, cunning, and adventure- four gifts people use to subdue the land.
Everything is tested of course. By fire and flood and fear. The first two test the land, the last tests the people.
Climb the steep steps built by the hardest of men and watch the sun move across the canyon floor from the vistas high above. Hike through the hoodoos and smell the sacred spires as they reach upwards to heaven. All take time and sweat and determination.
We emerged tired but victorious on the rim of Bryce Canyon to sit with the “clinging” pines and soak in how the forever changing hoodoos looked that evening.
A few short days before we had the other experience of nature. We humbly returned to canyon floor from Angel’s Landing, sweaty and panting from the intense hike, but soundly beaten by the final peak. We had turned back 100 yards up the chains, with the fear of sheer cliffs in our bellies and the healthy respect of nature in our hearts.
All this happened in southern Utah in late May of the year 2019.
