Sanctuary on the South Rim: Grand Canyon Epitath

Leaving what remained of a cobblestone road upon which Ford Model T's once roamed, since covered with cliff rose, pinyon pine and juniper, I climbed an embankment of Kaibab limestone for a view of the Grand Canyon. Fog was lifting inside the mile deep chasm recently soaked by rainfall, but now and again the ivory veil parted to reveal splendor that held me in thrall. The garnet, gold, and lime colored layers of the canyon appeared more majestic to my eyes for having been denied the view for some time by the fog, as the presents Santa Clause brings to children appear more wonderful after a month of suspense and chilling thoughts that in place of gifts there might be a rather large lump of coal. Mist passed over the canyon's rim and around me. I felt I was moving through a cloud in a dream.

A raven, clever clown of the bird world, clucked and tumbled in the air to sharpen my almost blunted purpose. Away from the embankment I plodded through the junipers to reach the objective of my search, three slabs of gray granite - gravestones - sheltered by pinyon branches. Inscribed upon one of the graves are the words:

In this place doubt is impossible.

Else why all these wonders,

This surpassing beauty,

This grandeur,

This deep peace,

This confident repose?

No, here is the spirit of God,

Here one must believe.

- C. A. Brant

Mr. Brant, former proprietor of the canyon's El Tovar Hotel, felt as I did at the canyon's rim. The world filled with splendor, life that is real and desirable, and freedom and truth are never so close as here.

"There thou art free", said Hester Prynne to her lover in the primeval forest, in Hawthorne's tale, "so brief a journey would bring thee from a world where thou hast been most wretched, to one where thou mayest still be happy". Listen for the Colorado River flowing at Pima Point on the canyon's rim, ten miles away from and a mile above the Colorado, and the realization sinks in that doubt is impossible here. The same gruel one is wont to have even tastes better when immersed in the wilderness of the Grand Canyon.

Try getting the same feeling standing around a McDonalds. Your thoughts are not your own in such a place. People and machines in a hurry gobble them up and what is left are visions of McNuggets and Shamrock Shakes. Black Hawk, the great Sauk chief and warrior, maintained that Europeans did not take scalps, "but they do worse - they poison the heart". And arteries he might add.

Go To Page: 1 2