When I look out at a canyon, I perceive it at several levels. There is the initial visceral response to being on the edge of sudden drops. There is the striking juxtaposition of colors. There is the texture. There is the sense of deep time, when you inderstand the processes that form these places: Simple water erosion, wind forces, freeze-and-thaw spalling, and the wear and tear both cased and countered by plants and animals. If you look closer, one can see the fossils of ancient life, the geologically brief appearance of volcanoes and floods and such. Canyons fascinate me.
