re: More than 20 missing after flash floods in the Grand canyon.

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This is why I never leave the house

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Friend,

We started seeing the videos yesterday. There is a particular sadness in hearing of the flood at Phantom Ranch, for some places become more than places after you have walked down to them enough times. Last spring, Mother and I stayed in one of those cabins, as we have hiked into the Canyon six times now, twice by way of rim-to-rim journeys. To spend a night at Phantom is, I think, the only proper way to see the Grand Canyon in its glory.

We will be in touch with the NPS soon and hope the main buildings and dining hall at Phantom remain unscathed. They were built a bit above the creek. Few things beat a cold glass of lemonade and the stew dinner shared amongst fellow hikers. If you have never stayed at Phantom Ranch, it is a must do at least once in life. In the NPS must do, it is just as high on the list, if not higher, than scaling Half Dome, biking Going-to-the-Sun Road, wading through the Narrows at Zion, or finding The Old Man at Crater Lake.

After the North Rim Lodge burned last summer, this latest loss feels especially cruel, as though the Canyon were reminding us that even the things we believe permanent are only visitors here.

Yours,
TulaneLSU