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Commentator Scott Thybony Honors The 50th Anniversary Of The Wilderness Act...Grand Canyon-Style

Scott Thybony

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. It was a landmark conservation law that gave new protections to more than 100,000,000 acres of wilderness across the country. To celebrate the milestone, commentator Scott Thybony shares the story of his first wilderness experience in the Grand Canyon.

My earliest Grand Canyon treks were confined to the main trails. It was only while working at Phantom Ranch that I began venturing into the real backcountry. When my next break arrived I grabbed a pack and took the trail heading to Clear Creek. My plan was to piece together an off-trail route to the North Rim, then loop around to the North Kaibab Trail, and be back at my cabin in 3 days.

The constructed trail let me make good time for the first 9 miles. I passed no one on the way over, and now turned up a branch of Clear Creek called Obi Canyon. Only a few hours from the main hiking corridor, I found myself in a trackless setting deep within a wilderness of rock and sky. I was cut off from both the distractions of civilization and its safety net. Out here, I would be the first responder if something went wrong...and the last.

Being early May, the day soon grew hot. Deep in the Redwall Narrows I took a water break, then pushed on. Suddenly, a rock the size of a cannon ball came hurling down the cliff and exploded with a crash in front of me as the booming reverberated between the walls. Fate can turn on something as ordinary as a sip of water. If I hadn't stopped, I would have been under the rockfall. Being 24 years old, I took my good luck in stride - as if it were the natural order of things - and kept walking.

Late in the day, I moved slowly through the upper bands of cliff to reach the rim. On top, I dumped my pack and saw water dripping from the bottom. Digging inside I found the container had leaked, and all the water I carried - an entire gallon - had drained away. I had covered 14 canyon miles that day, and now had to make a dry camp in a wet sleeping bag. Wringing out as much as possible from the down fill, I draped it over a bush.

And then turning toward the immense gorge, I stood looking for a moment. Crosscut ridges fingered deep into the main canyon topped by massive rock temples, turning molten reds and yellows in the final light. In the presence of such wild expanses, I felt fortunate to be here, with water or without. As the air chilled, I inched into my damp and matted bag. Time has a way of expanding or contracting depending on the circumstances, and a night spent in a wet sleeping bag tends to run long.

Before the sun broke the horizon I was on the move. The nearest water was nearly 14 miles away at the head of the North Kaibab Trail, so I set a good pace and kept going. At the trailhead I faced a decision whether to descent the 14 miles back to Phantom, or spend another night in a clammy sleeping bag. I kept walking and reached my stone cabin after having covered more than 27 miles. My route had taken me from the once-wild country along Bright Angel Creek, to the wilderness of Obi Canyon, and back to all the civilization I needed.

Scott Thybony has traveled throughout North America on assignments for major magazines, including Smithsonian, Outside, and Men’s Journal. An article for National Geographic magazine was translated into a dozen languages, and his book, Canyon Country, sold hundreds of thousands of copies. He once herded sheep for a Navajo family, having a hogan to call home and all the frybread he could eat. His commentaries are heard regularly on Arizona Public Radio.