Terra Incognita

4:15 am

I sway on tired feet, bleary eyed, beneath a sky of glittering stars.

Adrift in a thick and incoherent darkness that feels as if it is teeming with life, we are soon lost.

Some time later, my mother begins to curse, lamenting the sacrifice of her sleep.

The sky is several shades paler by the time we spot a handful of people at a bus stop and hurry over.

The bus arrives soon after; its yellow eyes boring through the gloom.

5:20am

Twenty minutes later we arrive at our destination and upon alighting we are immersed in a landscape of distinct stillness and bewitching beauty. We murmur in wonder as the canyon swallows our senses.

The spell is broken an instant later as people charge down the walkway on our right- “We’d better get the best spot!” They are soon out of sight.

I want to do the same, but my mother refuses to rush: “There’s time,” she says.

The moon is so very lovely. It seems to hover, not above, but within the canyon. The ripples of rock and dark, spiky growth at our feet are softened in its milky glow. The canyon itself is an empty gash of purple shadow. It’s a humbling scene.

As we follow the uneven walkway around toward the ‘prime viewing spot’, the moon keeps pace with us, although its curved edge is gradually blurring.

Meanwhile, colours are dancing all about us. Violet trades places with indigo as night’s navy cloak hurriedly lifts. When dark pinks erupt on the horizon ahead of us we know it is almost time.

5:40 am

We join the rest of the spectators. Some are huddled together, fervently chattering, while others stand alone clearly lost in their thoughts. A group of French teens is merrily singing as they look out at the horizon. I adjust my camera lens with clumsy fingers as I desperately endeavour to capture the moment. The sky is bleeding now, a thousand different reds. It looks as if it could be the end of the world, but it’s just the start of a new day.

6:00am (approximately)

The sun begins its ascent. It burns a hole in the already flaming canvas of the sky, exposing that otherworldly light fraction by fraction until it is whole. The rays slice through the jagged underworld below, exposing the endless creases and crags. The swells and dips of ancient sediment seem almost animated in the glare. The majesty and enormity of the Grand Canyon is slowly revealed to us.

I sway on tired feet, wide eyed, beneath a sky that is on fire.