“Does this ever get old?”

People have asked me this question countless times while showing them Grand Canyon. Though there is a slight (very slight) impulse within me to give a snarky reply, I would not. It is a fair question. They ask me that because they feel enraptured by witnessing some of the most awesome scenery on Earth, and they’re wondering if I too feel perpetual rapture for seeing the Canyon as I do.

Actually, it’s a good question. It means they’re happy. That’s a good sign for tips (though there definitely are cheapskates in this world (and they can deserve snark))).

I answer them honestly. I say “no”. We as people with volatile emotions always attune our attentions to needs and problems. Such a habit makes us forget to give gratitude. It makes us take things for granted.

So, of course, I can take Grand Canyon for granted. Millionaires take their money for granted. Men and women take their spouses for granted. People can take toilet paper for granted. This dynamic within me doesn’t make me evil. It makes me human.

However, in spite of the fact that I’ve spent close to 1,000 days at Grand Canyon, it can still awe me. I can still feel rapture, especially when capturing combinations of color, shadow, texture and light in a photo. I can feel rapture on sunny days in late September when coolness first hits, and Grand Canyon is the most perfect place on Earth. If I didn’t still appreciate it, I wouldn’t be around it.

But, no, it’s not a perpetual source of happiness that quashes all pains of life. No such thing exists except heaven.

That’s why, on Sunday the 31st of May in the year of our Lord 2026, at the outset of my long journey to New York and beyond and back, I went to the North Rim first, to see a specific rock formation called Wotan’s Throne, for two reasons, neither of them because of fiery passion.

Going there felt like something I should do.

One, I wanted to see the damage from the Dragon Bravo fire of the summer of 2025. Dragon Bravo started as a lightning strike on July 4th. The Forest Service didn’t start containing the fire until July 11th because they thought the summer rains – the Arizona monsoons – would help contain Dragon Bravo, as rain had already started falling before July 4th.

But rain didn’t fall after July 4th. The fire spread. It was on the 11th they started containing it. The federals chose poorly, and I’d still like to know their decision-making process to not contain because it was the WRONG decision. (I wonder if a single person was even reprimanded.) Dragon Bravo became the 7th biggest fire in Arizona history and burned 149,399 acres.

I’d seen Dragon Bravo from the South Rim in July, August and September. I was still doing tours then because the South Rim hadn’t shut down (the flames on the North Rim jumping a gulf 10 to 15 miles wide and then igniting the South Rim wasn’t a concern). But tours weren’t numerous. Americans unfamiliar with Grand Canyon and fires dynamics had the impression that all 277 miles of Grand Canyon were on fire. This too was not good for business – indeed, the diarrhea mouths on the news didn’t help.

Well, I wanted to see the extent of the damage. I wanted to see the blackened earth. I wanted to see the dead ponderosas, firs and spruces. How different did everything look? What would stand out?

Two, I wanted to take another photo of Wotan’s Throne, which is a viewpoint on the North Rim that, under the right lighting conditions, could become the greatest photo of Grand Canyon ever taken. It could become the greatest photo ever taken. But you have to hit it at the right time. The sun and weather have to cooperate, and how many times can you try this when it’s 4 hours from where you live? I’d give it another shot on the way out of Arizona.

So I drove from Sedona to Flagstaff to the Navajo Rez to Jacob Lake and then south along AZ 67. 67 takes you to the North Rim of GCNP. From the road, at first, I didn’t see any fire damage. However, as I got closer to the Park, blackened earth became more visible, but I couldn’t see Dragon Bravo’s full devastation. I’d have had to get off 67 and drive USFS roads for that. I’d have to explore.

No. Wasn’t that interested. I’ve seen blackened earth before. It is what it is. So, I continued south into the Park, and south along the Cape Royal Road to the southern tip of the Walhalla Plateau where you can see the rock formation called Wotan’s Throne. There it was.

(There is also a Thor’s Temple and Freya Castle at GC, as well as many old Egyptian and Hindu gods’ names inscribed on the milieu of rock formations of Grand Canyon because famous 19th century geologist Clarence Dutton thought the land had a raw and primordial look identical to when old pagan gods who created the earth were still walking upon their new creation.)

((Of course, as is my right, I don’t believe Earth was formed over millions or billions of years through the chaotic aftermath of the Big Bang or some similar notion that most 19th (and 20th and 21st) century geologists, like Dutton, promulgate. Nonetheless, I find his pagan predilection for names interesting because the raw and primordial nature of Grand Canyon makes me think of Creation Week, of everything from nothing, too.))

Anyway, Wotan’s Throne was ok. Today was not the day. Too much sunshine. No shadows or drama in the sky.

Of course, some would take a photo like several of the ones below and think it’s the best one they’ve ever taken. It’s not the best one I’ve ever taken, yet, whoever thinks my photographic efforts below to be successful, thank you. A problem I have is that I have no idea which of my photos are good or bad. I can’t fully critique my own work, and I never sought professional critique, which is my fault.

But that’s ok. It’s still fun, and I still can discern a better photo than a worse one, and I’ll always appreciate those who take the time to look at my work and say nice things.

Anyway, knowing the following week would be pure sunshine, with a continued lack of sky-drama, I decided I’d not stay at the North Rim, and move onward towards the East.

(And if you’re curious as to what is meant by the “North Rim”, at river-mile 70 of Grand Canyon (which is, again, 277 river-miles long) the Colorado does a 90-degree turn from flowing southerly to flowing westerly. The natural division of Grand Canyon thus becomes the south side and the north side, or the South Rim or the North Rim (and by “rim” I mean the top edge of the Canyon where if you take another step you die)).

So I headed back to Jacob Lake, and stayed at a dispersed campsite (a free campsite) within the Kaibab National Forest, which I’ve used before and know it has cell service so I can watch videos of cats, dogs and people farting to induce sleep.

In ending, below is a gallery of photos I’ve taken of Wotan’s Throne over the years. I think they’re good. But, I’d really want to have my tripod and umbrella in the middle of a summer storm, and then wait for that storm to break around sunset, where beams of light pierce the gray vail and maybe conjure a rainbow, while cumulus clouds linger in the sky, and cast shadows inside Grand Canyon for a blend of color and shadow across the interior, which helps create depth and… more technical information on photography later.

Thanks for reading, reader. I mean that.