It’s Thursday so here’s a throwback to a golden hour scene at Grand Canyon’s Moran Point from September 2014.
When I took this photo, I was leading a sunset tour for two wonderful women — also photographers, that I’m still connected with on Instagram (shout out to Karin Marie and Molly Faircloth). But anyway, this very particular view is special to me, that’s specifically why I photographed it. This was one of my go-to spots where I would take my tour groups to tell them the story of how the Grand Canyon was formed.
My guests would sit on a pony wall built from native Kaibab Limestone, feet dangling, eyes feasting on the visual candy of this view, while I described how the Mother Nature molded and sculpted this landscape.
The story was a geologic epic spanning 1.6 billion years. The rise and fall of a long forgotten mountain range. Ancient seas and sand-dunes laying down thousands of vertical feet of sediment. The unlikely uplift of the plateau, with the rock layers somehow staying flat. Then the mighty Colorado River (and its tributaries) carving the wonder we see before us. Squint and you can see the Colorado still weaving its way through the shale and sandstone on the canyon floor.
I told that story hundreds of times, and it never got old. It was like scientific performance art, a Ted Talk on a grand stage.
Giving tours at the Canyon now feels like a lifetime ago, but let me tell you this: you can take the tour guide out of the Grand Canyon, but you can’t take the Grand Canyon out of the Tour Guide.
Thanks for attending my Ted Talk.
Grandly yours,
-Jake
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