I found this place of pure wonder when I pulled off the road ~20 minutes to the east of the Grand Canyon National Park on highway 64. It was marked simply by a sign that said “scenic view”. From the road it was unclear what scenic view there’d be.
After a brief walk from the parking area the canyon edge, my jaw dropped. During all of my hiking in the National Park I only got brief glimpses of the lower canyons and the river below. I was mostly near the rim. Here, so close to the park entrance, everything was changed. It was all flat desert (with some mountains further away) and then just one, very deep cut into the desert that hid the River below. I hadn’t realized just now deep the lower canyons were, or the strange shapes the river twisted and turned.
I had plans to rush onward to Horseshoe Bend from there, but I found the view so arresting at the edge that I lingered for over an hour to watch the colors turn on the canyon walls.
Today was yet another affirmation that the best things in life often emerge when you leave space to be surprised, and are willing to say yes to adventures with unknown look-outs.
When I left the sun had already set behind a small mountain range, however the ranges to both the east and the north held the light and glowed a vermillion hue for what felt like an hour as the rest of the world turned to darkness. I wish I’d been able to capture it, but I don’t think it could be captured photographically. The scale of it was too immense. Below is one photo I did grab on my iPhone when many miles later the road hugged near one of the ranges.
I apologize for the truly terrible iPhone photo, but it gives you a sense of how the rocks held the color more than an hour after sunset. These rocks were close. What was more remarkable for looking out to the horizon and seeing miles and miles and miles of mountains like this lit up from far away.