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Tom H Cooper
When you touch this book, it becomes your faithful companion, holding your hand and guiding you through the most beautiful natural wonders of the region of North America once known as the Wild West, exploring the scenery from a whole new perspective. Wide-ranging memories come to life and make you feel :
this book is closer to you than you ever imagined!
Tom H Cooper
Meet Tom!
… is an electrical engineer, amateur nature photographer, former jazz musician and keen outdoorsman.
For more than three decades, he has held IT, management and senior expert positions in a strategic energy company.
Since 1997, he had visited the USA several times in connection with his work, and since 2002, he has been visiting systematically the national and state parks of the West Coast as a private citizen.
He shares his travels and experiences in his first book (VADNYUGAT 2020) and, inspired by the reception of the stories in it, has written a second book of short stories and short fiction (CÉLKERESZT 2021).
He says that for him, the best mornings are those when the rising sun finds him on one of the dusty hiking trails of The Grand Circle. Both works have been privately published by the author in Hungary.
Introduction
A tribute to those who discovered, protected, and made available to us the most beautiful natural values inNorth America.
Excerpt from the Hungarian version of the book published in 2020.
The original copy was donated by the author to the Grand Canyon NP Library in 2022 in honor of his esteem.
Arriving from the South
Arriving from Williams on the plateau – similarly to the eastern route – the route that heads north escorts us to the entrance of the park through low pine woods. Those who would like to spend a few days here can take the last (or last but one) chance to find accommodation for the night in the nearby village. From here there are seven miles left to the park. Leaving behind the multi-lane entrance, armed with maps and brochures, it still takes a while to get to the centre of the south rim. My personal favourite is the vicinity of Bright Angel Lodge. Car in the car park, wooden double swing door at the reception of the lodge. Shop on the right, lodge front desk on the left, fireplace and exit in front – these are only the fragments of pictures that I can perceive with a quick glance from the corner of my eye as I already feel that something big awaits through the glass door. Making your way through the continuous crowd of jostling, coming and going, door-blocking and loudly gesticulating people gathered here from many different parts of the world who often just see this as an opportunity to take a quick selfie, you catch a glimpse of the NORTHERN RIM – though only for a moment…
However, as you walk along on the stone path paved with great care that has been worn out by millions of shoes, the opening “window” perceived through your eyes situated above the not too tall stone edge becomes wider and wider. The clamour is slowly growing softer.
Your brain – if you simply allow it – sets an alarm bell ringing by excluding the unimportant: you, the human standing here should notice the wonder in stones, trees, the great depths and distances. In order to be able to use the word “wonderful” appropriately in the future, you must find a proper place deep in your heart and carefully plant there whatever you can see and feel right here and now. The memories that will store the imprints of the trips from Angel’s Landing, Mesa Arch and Antelope will also accompany you. They will also offer you something to hold onto in times, when other memories serving as grips are fading away with the passing of time. This is exactly what happens when you return and once again feel the burning desire you had once before; strange as it seems, everything you see needs to be processed in time even after numerous occasions.
Right before sunset, from the Trailview Overlook viewpoint, we even had time to take a last glance at the track that awaited us the next day. Wavering, tiny blobs of lights indicated those climbing upwards thus emphasising the repeated warning all around: you should not strive to make it to the river and back in a day. That day also vanished and it only took a little time to settle into our room literally just a few steps from the edge of the geological wonder that is a part of the world heritage site.
The lodge is built of massive pine logs right next to the walking path of the rim. Though our window overlooked the canyon and we were unable to see any of it in the dark, it was still a special feeling to be so close to this unique formation of earth’s history.
Owing to the cold October evenings, the crackling of matches indicates that the pine logs burning in the huge stone fireplace occupy the whole wall opposite the entrance of the lodge. The unique pieces of furniture made of thick timbers allow only a few people to spend some moments alone with their thoughts in the constant hustle and bustle. The swaying, flickering flames of fire – like the war dance of native American fighters in a circle – mesmerizingly catch the eye. The lucky one senses that this trance can be quite fruitful and allows himself to unite with the experienced and embraced beauty showing a different face of the canyon in different parts of the trail. This then will accompany us for many years as cherished memories compiled from million-year-old layers.
