I used to think the Grand Canyon was just a big hole in the ground

I was on a trip to Arizona last fall and met this older guy, a retired park ranger, at a lookout point. I made some dumb joke about it just being a really big ditch, and he just smiled and pointed to a specific layer of red rock way down the wall. He said, 'See that stripe? That's the Supai Group. That's over 300 million years old, and it used to be a coastal swamp full of giant ferns before the dinosaurs even showed up.' He didn't lecture me, he just told one simple fact. It totally flipped a switch in my head. Now I can't look at any rock face without wondering what story it's telling. What's a cool fact you've heard that made a place come alive for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_miles1mo ago

Honestly, that's a nice moment, but it feels a bit over the top. It's a rock layer. I get that it's old, but it's still just a hole in the ground, a really big one. People attach all this deep meaning to landscapes, like every cliff has a secret to tell. Sometimes a view is just a view. It's fine to think it's pretty without needing a geology lesson to make it matter.

grayjohnson1mo ago

Totally get that, some views just slap.

stone.simon6d ago

Hey @grayjohnson, that slap is the story hitting you, and honestly, that's what makes a view more than just a pretty hole.