When we started the hike through the Grand Canyon at sunrise, it was about 20 degrees and the fog and snow was so thick and dense that you could not even see the ridge across the canyon.  When we got down to the bottom of the canyon, the snow turned to rain and you could finally see the entire canyon with the exception of the higher altitude mountains that were still blanketed in snow and fog.  We then had to fight through another snowstorm for the last 4 miles of the hike to get back to the rim of the Grand Canyon.  At the end of the 17 mile hike, the sky started to clear and the sun cut through the canyon, illuminating the mountains in a beautiful orange, yellow, and red hue that was breathtaking.  I got up to the ridge and met a photographer that said, “can you believe I drove all the way from Las Vegas to take this shot?”.  I started laughing, exhausted and tired, and I told him about the journey from the top to the bottom and back out of the canyon that we just experienced.  Sometimes you have to put yourself through hell and back in order to find the beautiful aspects of life that lie right in front of you.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ