I watched the red helicopter circle twice over the Bright Angel Trail before it dropped lower, its rotors kicking up dust that hung in the June heat like a warning nobody had heeded. It was 2 p.m., 104°F in the inner canyon, and somewhere down there a hiker was being loaded onto a stretcher. I … Read more
For our tenth anniversary, I asked my partner what they actually wanted — not a dinner, not jewelry. They said: somewhere we’ve never been, somewhere that feels like a story we haven’t told yet. That answer led us straight to the edge of the Grand Canyon, staring into a chasm so vast it genuinely short-circuits … Read more
For our tenth anniversary, I asked my partner what they actually wanted — not a dinner, not jewelry. They said: somewhere we’ve never been, somewhere that feels like a story we haven’t told yet. We chose the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, and standing at the edge for the first time, watching the canyon’s layered reds … Read more
The school year ended and I sat in an empty classroom for twenty minutes just listening to the silence. Then I went home and looked up flights. Teaching summers off exist for a reason — and that particular search landed me at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, staring into a chasm so vast it genuinely … Read more
I spent fourteen months putting money into a travel fund that everyone else called frivolous. When it finally had enough zeros in it, I spent about forty-five minutes looking at destinations before I bought the ticket — because honestly, there was never really a question: it was always going to be the Grand Canyon’s South … Read more
After two years of looking at the same four walls, I made a list of every place I’d told myself “I’ll go when things settle down.” Then I started at the top — and the Grand Canyon was right there, staring back at me. What I didn’t expect was how much where I slept would … Read more
My father worked for 38 years saying he’d travel when he retired. He retired and then kept finding reasons not to go. I watched that happen and promised myself I wouldn’t do the same thing — which is exactly why I finally booked that flight to Arizona and stood at the edge of the Grand … Read more
