During a chat over morning coffee at an Airbnb in Flagstaff, the home's owner Jim gave me an excellent tip about the Grand Canyon. Jim is a tour guide for northern Arizona and was excited when I told him I was considering venturing up to the Grand Canyon.
Jim told me about a lesser known spot called Shoshone Point. I was a little bit nervous when the directions included "stop between mile marker X and X," but the trail leading out to the point was fairly easy to find.
After a minute or so of walking through the trail, I realized that the hour drive and coffee had caught up with me, but there was no civilized toiliet in sight. I hadn't seen any other humans yet, so I took a risk and sought refuge behind this fallen tree -- and I am grateful for the change to enjoy the rest of the walk in better comfort. And for some reason, felt the need to document the tree for a photo -- you're welcome.
Shoshone Point is a penisula that juts out into the canyon with a rock sculpture at the end. It's breathtaking. Luckily, the air was still that day so I went ahead and journeyed out onto the penisula.
As mentioned in my Christmas blog, I received a selfie stick as a gift. What a better opportunity to test that sucker out than at the Grand Canyon? I couldn't have asked for a clearer, more beautiful day.
It was so peaceful, serene, and surreal out on that penisula. Just me and the grandor of this natural wonder.
Perhaps part of the thrill that there was a realistic chance I could fall and die. None of that really hit me until I was climbing back up the pennisula. Right before the "mainland" there were a few rocks in the shape of steps. It didn't seem that steep on the way down, but while climbing out a wave of dizziness hit me. For a flash second I thought to myself, "You can fall and die here, no one will find you."
Turns out it was just an adjustment to the altitude and I was totally fine. And it was totally worth it.
