Grand Canyon...one more time, with feeling
Plus, HEALING wins an award and my new "What I'm Reading" column
Hi All,
I didn’t realize it had been so long since I sent out a newsletter! I got pretty sick at the end of April (it has not been a good few months for me and germs) and then we left on our Grand Canyon trip two weeks ago and returned to Pittsburgh late last Wednesday. It was a fabulous vacation.
Read on to hear about that, to learn that HEALING won a Nautilus Book Award, and to get a link to my newest “What I’m Reading” column in the American Journal of Nursing. I wrote about Emily Maloney’s book Cost of Living, a series of essays on her expensive, strange and sometimes really bad experiences with the health care system.
But first, Grand Canyon…
Grand Canyon really is grand
As regular readers of this newsletter know, my recent hike down to the bottom of Grand Canyon and back up was my second one in two years. The difference this time is that we planned to camp at the bottom instead of staying in a cabin at Phantom Ranch. We also packed in our own food (and packed out our trash) instead of eating at the Phantom Ranch canteen. These changes required tents, sleeping bags, serious backpacks and a real commitment from me, because two activities I was pretty sure I did not like were backpacking and camping. However, needs must. I felt strongly that Grand Canyon warranted such an adjustment in my preferences, or rather, accommodating to discomfort in order to have a memorable adventure.
I keep telling people that it’s hard to put the beauty of the canyon into words, and for a writer to admit that says a lot about how ethereally and strikingly beautiful Grand Canyon is. In some ways it has a rep as a tourist trap, but there’s a reason why it’s considered one of “The 7 Natural wonders of the World.” It really is that spectacular.
Another difference between this trip and the last one was that our previous Grand Canyon hike took place in late November and this one happened mid-May. Late spring in Grand Canyon means flowers, which to me looked very similar to Alpine flowers, though I am no botanist. In addition to the yellow flowers in the photo, we also saw daisies, tiny purple blossoms, and cactus blooms in yellow and neon pink.
Brightly striped lizards were out and about as well as toads and squirrels with a (to me) very unusual coloring—gray on top and brown on the bottom, as if their fur was slowly transitioning from its winter to summer coat. A Forest Ranger told us that these squirrels, and maybe all squirrels, cool off through a process called splooting, where they dig just beneath the surface of the soil to find cool dirt, then open their arms wide and spread out on the moist soil. In summer the temperature at the bottom of the canyon typically exceeds 100 degrees F, making splooting seem like a great idea.
Camping anywhere in what is called the Backcountry of Grand Canyon requires applying for a camping permit six months in advance and campsites are awarded through a lottery held by the National Park Service. We won the lottery, which included two nights in Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the canyon. That gave us a day of rest between hiking down and up, and our campsite was right next to Bright Angel Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River. The soothing sounds of running water lulled us to sleep at night and made our stay wonderfully peaceful.
Our hike out began with us crossing Bright Angel Bridge over the Colorado River. The bridge used to be made out of rope and wooden planks and at windy moments in the canyon it would turn completely over. Thank goodness we did not have to worry about that, since the Colorado River is very cold and dangerous due to strong currents.
The hike up was hotter than I expected, since while the canyon is consistently warmer at the bottom than at the top, I thought we would start to feel cooler air once we got half-way up, about five miles. It stayed hot and sunny, though, until…cloud cover moved in, making the trek much easier. From Bright Angel Trail we could see the rain those clouds presaged, falling in another part of the canyon. We even felt a few raindrops ourselves and heard thunder, which echoed dramatically off the canyon walls.
True confession time: I faltered on the way up Bright Angel Trail at what I now know is called “Heartbreak Hill.” There were tears and I seriously pondered trying to convince a tourist to carry my pack the rest of the way for $20. Arthur and I stopped for a break that I hoped would help me emotionally regroup, when a Grand Canyon volunteer approached us on the trail. She asked how we were doing and if we wanted any salty snacks, offering us a choice of Pringles, Fritos or Chex Mix. “I’ll take some Pringles,” I said and she handed over a small container of the potato chips with the observation that hiking in the heat is the only time when junk food is the best snack possible, because people need the salt and fat.
While I munched the potato chips she gave me a pep talk that was understated and fabulous. She said after we got up Heartbreak Hill and turned the corner the hike would start to feel like Disneyland since the path would be so full of day hikers who were only going as far as the bend in the trail we were preparing to hike up and around. She said it with a verbal wink, indicating that the three of us knew who the real hikers were. Her closing advice was to, “Just keep putting one dog in front of the other,” and it worked!
But it wasn’t only what she said, but how she said it. She was matter-of-fact, kind, encouraging, and also practical—really, the best kind of compassion, which people tend to define as “empathy in action.” Because of that volunteer I made it up and out of the canyon on my own, without having to dragoon a stranger into hauling my bag up with them, or waiting for a mule (my other fallback idea), which would have taken a very, very long time since we’d seen only one mule train on the trail and it had already reached the top.
Before we knew it we were at the top of the canyon, trading picture-taking with other hikers who had also hiked up from Bright Angel Campground. It’s only me and Arthur in the photo below since Sophia and Abbie went at a slower pace than we did, taking time for pictures (Abbie) and to discuss geology (Sophia).
I end with one of Abbie’s stunning photos below. You can see the palette of colors in the canyon and also more of Bright Angel trail. The hiking was hard, but as soon I reached the top my only thought was, “When can I do this again?” which is exactly how I felt the last time. And, oh yeah, turns out I like backpacking and camping. I’m happy not to sleep that well and haul around a heavy pack for the privilege of seeing such amazing beauty up close. Here’s wishing equally grand adventures to all of you, whether they involve carrying food and trash, and sleeping in beds or not.
HEALING wins a Nautilus Award
HEALING won a Silver Medal in the category of Memoir & Personal Journey- Focused Topic: Medical Memoirs.
From the Nautilus Award Website: “Our core mission is to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living & green values, wellness, social change & social justice, and spiritual growth. The Nautilus Awards represent Better Books for a Better World.”
I am so proud of winning this award and of being recognized for writing a book that strives to make the world a better place.
My newest “What I’m Reading” column in AJN
“The Cost of Living While Human”
Emily Maloney's Cost of Living: Essays (Henry Holt and Co., 2022) offers up a rich collection of observations on the ironies, paradoxes, and economic unfairness endemic to American health care. Maloney made a suicide attempt as a young adult and incurred a large medical debt as a result of her treatment. She spent the next decade striving to pay off that debt, for a time working for low wages as an ED technician. After detailing the many costs incurred—”Suicide should be cheaper,” she comments wryly—Maloney goes on to describe years of medication-dependent psychiatric care (which likely wasn't helping her), mistakes that sometimes pepper hospital care, and the quandary of how to avoid opioid addiction while also alleviating chronic pain. This book exposes key incongruities at the heart of American health care.
To keep reading the column, click here: Theresa Brown in AJN.
My plan is to return to my usual bi-weekly schedule, so look for another newsletter in two weeks. In the meantime, hope you can enjoy the onset of summer, which for awhile there seemed like it was not coming to Pittsburgh.
Hugs to all,
Theresa
Grand Canyon...one more time, with feeling
Phenomenal pictures. I love the story of how a moment of sincere empathy and compassion helped you find physical strength and mind power!
Your Grand Canyon adventures shows how healing nature is despite the trial of going up the canyon. Love how you describe the animals and as a squirrel watcher, I am always fascinated by different colors, like the brown stripe you described on one you observed. Congrats on your award, well deserved! Love the pic of you and the beautiful blonde horse!