Grand Canyon: At Play

(Hiking through the lower reaches of Tuckup Canyon, Canon 7D, 17-40f4L @17mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/125th, handheld)

River trips aren’t easy. They require an extraordinary amount of work. Packing and unpacking, rigging and de-rigging the boats, hauling equipment, cooking and cleaning, setting up and disassembling kitchens, folding chairs, fire pans, tarps… There is a sea of daily work that has to be done. Yet, somehow, between the obligatory chores we found time to get out and really play.

Funny how the word “play” seems to indicate that what we did was frivolous. It wasn’t. What we did, (though I don’t think we were always aware of it at the time), was immerse ourselves more deeply in the place. The desert isn’t a world of flowing water and river sounds. It is a region of dry rock and hardy, prickly vegetation. It is a place that bakes in the sun, and survives, by holding on to the cracks in the rocks. By wandering away from the water, we found ourselves outside the river-world that was our daily routine. We experienced the canyon in a much fuller sense. The little-visited side-canyons we accessed by clawing ourselves up wet, dripping cliff faces, were fun interludes, certainly, but also gave us a broader perspective on the canyon experience. Sure it was play, but play with purpose.

As for jumping off cliffs into the river? Well there is no excuse for that kind of behavior, but it sure was fun.

(Matt soars over the Grand Canyon near Deer Creek, Canon 7D, 17-40f4L @17mm, ISO400, f6.3, 1/1250th, handheld.)

(Red stands in silhouette against the canyon at the top of the 7th step of Elve’s Chasm, Canon 7D, 17-40f4L @40mm, ISO200, f9.0, 1/500th, handheld)

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