21
I was awakened by the first rays of light that softly brightened the inside of the tent. Immediately recalling what the Park Ranger had said about the morning view I quickly unzipped the tents enclosure to go out and see in detail what I had been staring into all night. The sun was full above the horizon and flooded the eastern face of the Grand Canyon with a golden light so bright I had trouble looking into it. The canyon was not as wide there as it was from the north or south rims but the colors were still beautiful yellow, red, purple and were camouflaged in places by tree cover that gave the Grand Canyon a new appearance that I’d never seen prior. The shadows played over the jagged rock faces that were cut in a myriad different angles so the canyon seemed alive in a way, like it possessed animation almost; and all I could do was gasp. Hawks soared in along the canyon walls and then rose into the sky above. A mighty condor swept in along the ridge of a crag below me in the distance and I couldn’t believe the luck I had in seeing the majestic bird in its natural habitat. The cooler morning air was invigorating also. I walked back from the ledge to the deep ravine and grabbed the granola bar from my pack and then returned to my seat at the ledge of the cliff and let my feet dangle over the edge. It was hundreds if not thousands of feet to the canyon floor below me. I felt the knots in my stomach as I did so but I couldn’t resist. It was the greatest morning sunrise view that I had ever witnessed. I held on with one had to the firmest root I could find from amongst the desert brush as I nibbled from the granola bar and gazed at the dynamic play of light. Fluffy white clouds passed into and out of view and created the illusion of the suns rays to shine over the vast terrain. The scope so truly grand that it is impossible to articulate the panorama if it has not been witnessed personally. I spoke my morning prayers into the wind that swept over the grandeur. I couldn’t wait to reconnect with Ally and to tell her about the road since I had last seen her the months prior. I knew also that Johnny would be meeting me in Phoenix the following day and that too hard me excited for the miles we’d burn together.
I had just broken my mornings meditative gaze when I heard a rustling in the woods behind me. Scooting backwards from the ledge and turning to see if I could see the creature responsible for the noise I was startled by a man walking out of the tree line and onto the path that lead past me. I rose to my feet quickly and became tense as he walked near my campsite. He was dressed in camouflaged pants and a plaid button up shirt, and was carrying a pack over one of his shoulders. He was sporting a full beard that looked unkempt as did his longer hair. As he neared my site he looked over at me and I think I startled him too from his own thoughts. Doing a double take of me as I walked back over towards the still smoldering fire pit he said,
“Oh! I beg your pardon, man. I’d figured I was out here all alone. Forgive my intrusion.” Hearing the tone in his voice made me relax again.
“No worries. The ranger said this was the place to camp.” I said back to the man.
“The Ranger wasn’t lying. Not many people make the trek though. Most people prefer more comfortable camping.”
“Well to be honest I think I would fit into that group myself, but I was shit out of luck, otherwise.” I replied as we both snickered.
“Not me, friend,… give me the absolute solitude. Maybe you saw my truck back the way. I’ve been out here for a couple weeks now. Usually make camp somewhere down below though.” He said pointing towards the canyons ledge.
“That’s wild, man, I don’t have the wherewithal for that kind of roughing it. This is about the extreme for me.” I said laughing again.
“Well… you might if you were hiding from the things I’m hiding from.” The man said to me and I became somewhat nervous yet again.
“I think I can understand that desire.” I replied trying to ingratiate myself to his plight. The man looked at me cockeyed as he seemed to size me up.
“Did you serve?”
“Serve?... Oh,.. did I serve?… no I didn’t.”
“Then you probably don’t understand, man.” He said back to me. “I come to the Canyon because the noise gets quieted for me out here.” He continued as he pointed his curved knuckle to his temple. “But there are other places too.”
“You’re right, man, I can’t imagine. All my noise…” I began pointing to my own temple, “is self created, mostly. I guess I’m running rather than hiding.”
The man smiled and then he said,
“Seems like too many of us are doing one or the other these days. It’s all fucked, brother.”
“Yes it is.”
“Well I’m going to head back to the camper to make coffee. Stop by on your way if you’d like. Are you hitching?” He asked as he looked about observing there was no vehicle in sight.
“No, brother, I got my bike back down the way.”
And my saying that caused a grin to curl on his face as he nodded like he agreed with it.
“The Jake, abides.” He said as he chuckled loudly and I reciprocated the chuckle knowing that he implied the movie The Great Lebowski.
“The Henry, abides also.”
“Good to meet you, Henry. I’ll have coffee in half an hour if it suits you.” he said to me.
“Good to meet you too, Jake.” I said back to him, and after I said it he waved to me as he sauntered off down the gravel path towards his camper. After he’d gone I lingered for a bit longer as I reworked my pack and then folded up the tent. Once I felt I was all set to go I walked over to the fire pit and kicked some dust over the ashes to make sure there were no embers still burning. Then I walked out to the ledge one last time. “AaaWooooo!” I howled into the great divide. Then i was quiet.
“AaaWoooo!” I heard Jake howl back from well down the way. And I smiled as I ran my gaze one last time over the great expanse. Too many of us is right. It’s a damn shame, man.
And so throwing my pack over my shoulders I set out down the gravel path myself. When I got near the campsite where the camper was parked Jake was pulling in the laundry from the line. Not wanting to be ungracious I walked over for a cup of the coffee he’d offered. Seeing me coming he lifted the kettle from off the ground and gave it a jiggle. As I walked near he poured the hot coffee into a couple of mugs and handed one to me as he lifted his mug to meet mine in cheers.
“So how many miles have you rode, Henry?” He asked.
“Well over 6000 so far, Jake.”
“Damn, bro, you weren’t lying…you really are running. She must’ve fucked you up right.” And I laughed at his intuitive insight.
“Yeah well I left her behind a thousand miles ago, finally.” I said to him.
“The bad loves haunt ya, man. The good ones heal ya.”
“That’s about right, brother.”
“I’ve had my share of bad love. The good one…. Well she couldn’t understand why I went back overseas when I didn’t have to.”
“I hate to hear that, Jake. I really do, man . Afghanistan?” I asked him.
“And Iraq. Four tours. I wanted so badly to come home finally…but when I did it was too late…she had given up on us. Maybe she wasn’t a good one after all, I don’t know anymore, I guess.”
“Maybe the girl you seek is still out there.”
“I hope so brother. Or else what’s it all for?”
“I keep asking myself the same thing. Every couple hundred miles at least, man. ”
“So where’s home, Henry?”
“Ya know, Jake; I don’t really know anymore…. You?”
“It was Iowa. But that was a lifetime ago.” He answered me. And, man, I drew back when he said it and I looked at him like he was in truth a long lost brother, and I would hardly have believed the coincidence 6000 miles ago, regardless, but I felt differently about some things since then so all I said was,
“Davenport, once upon a time, myself.” And he looked dismayed towards me too and similarly astonished also.
“Cedar Falls.”
“Man, I dated a girl from Cedar Falls, once. She was nothing but trouble though.” I said with a snicker.
“Well it’s good to know we didn’t date the same girl then because thats where my baby was.” Jake said with a matching chuckle but then I watched as it faded into a distant gaze.
“What are the odds, Henry?” He continued.
“I’d have to leave that to the mathematicians, pal. And out here they don’t matter anyways. Things either happen or they don’t.”
“I hear ya. So where to next, man?”
“I’m headed for Phoenix just as soon as I finish this last sip. Want to come along?” I asked him truly.
“Next time.” He said back after a short pause.
“I hope so, brother. I’d like it if that were so.” I said to him as I stood up and flipped the mug over as the last drop fell to the dust. And he stood up next to me tall and proud. And he reached his hand out to shake mine. And I shook his hand firmly. And then I turned to walk off. I stopped in my tracks a few paces away as I felt the need to turn back one last time, and once I did I said,
“Thank you, Jake..” And he just nodded, “…. For the coffee, too, man.” And I had tears welling in the back of my eyes as I said it and it was all I could do to hold them there. And I saw his eyes sort of shining too and I could tell they too were troubled with pain. Pain I knew I couldn’t know anything about and he was holding back his own flood I was sure. Just like we are taught to do.
“Eh,……” he finally began and I stood there and I waited for him to finish his thought but he didn’t say anything else. And after a brief moment longer he waved me on and I nodded back to him and I turned and walked back towards the path. And once there I turned again to wave and Jake was already waving back. And then he turned his back and walked around the far side of his truck. And I turned my back and continued down the gravel road.
Once back to my bike I secured everything down tight and I hit the ignition as the motor barked to life. I gave the throttle a couple full twists and listened while the sound from the exhaust pipes reverberated into the woods. I hoped Jake could hear it. As I loped down the lane towards the main road there was a small box next to the roadside for campers to leave details of their entry into the woods inside of just in case something were to go wrong and a park ranger might find the note left behind and know where to begin looking. I stopped next to it and got off the bike and drew a pen from my bag and then reaching into my pocket I pulled one of the wolf stickers from my wallet and on it I wrote my name and number and placed it in the box just in case Jake would for no good reason decide to stop and check whenever he too left the Canyon too. ‘What are the odds?’, I was thinking to myself as I got back onto my motorcycle and throttled off.
I retraced highway 67 north back through the Kaibab Forest to highway 89A and making the right turn I romped through the gears as I rode east alongside the Vermillion Cliffs, the pale pinkish yellow like all of Arizona is in my remembered mind. My energy was booming. The heat didn’t even bother me now. Crossing the Colorado River at Marble Canyon where the old Navajo Bridge still traversed the expanse. And in the deep cliffside ravine the mighty water rushed towards the Grand Canyon and then onward to the Hoover Dam beyond. Once crossing over the river the road straightened out due south and I blazed across the high desert at 90mph and a short while later I began the ascent into the forested mountains of Flagstaff. I pulled off there to send Ally a message, and seeing missed messages from both her and Johnny in return lifted my spirits even more. I told Ally I was sorry but I didn’t have reception where I was the night prior so that is why I had been unable to be reached and she didn’t bust me up about it too much and finally once I had the address to her sister Gracie’s down in Scottsdale I plugged the coordinates into my phone and was on my way. The wind coming down out of the mountains south of Flagstaff smashed directly into my helmet. So I crouched low behind the fairing and twisted the throttle farther and I was in a mad dash south along Interstate 17 in the Sonoran Desert inferno that was once again blistering my ankles and stealing my breath as I pummeled the miles with an all out fervor to ride. Behind me was the entirety of the American West. All that grandeur. All those visions of the Americana. The visions of Holy madness too. My eyes burned as I gazed into It. Down from the mountain and into the Valley of the Sun in the dead of afternoon sky scorching heat. I had the cruise set at 100mph now and as I rode, leaning on the gas tank I spread my arms out wide and trailing off behind me were the embers of my Icarian feathers like the wings of the fiery Phoenix towards whose city namesake I descended as I soared into the desert mirage.
End of Book 2
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