Desert Argonath

And from Tucson, I drove North…

Right before I left, James texted me the following comment about hitting Salt River Canyon. “Don’t fall in.”

And I read that and went, “Oh ha ha, very funny, James.”

And then I got there.

And went.

HOLY SHIT, DON’T FALL IN. HE WASN’T KIDDING. O.O

Because you get to that part of the road and it narrows to two lanes and a brutally enforced 25 mph speed limit and depending on where you are on the road, a sheer vertical drop right off one side or the other of the road. Like whoa. Like thank the gods for growing up in NoCal and commuting on Hwy 17, because if I didn’t have experience on those sorts of roads, scare the shit out of you driving.

And then there were things like that. *points up at picture*

James had said that this section of country looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings. Holy shit, he wasn’t kidding. Because I got to this one turn out, leapt out of the car and…just stood. And stared. That is where the Salt River cuts through the rock and you cannot tell me that your imagination does not automatically paste in the Argonath. That Isildur and Anárion shouldn’t be standing *right fucking there* and suddenly, the Salt River is the Anduin and beyond should be Nen Hithoel and beyond that, the northern march of Gondor, the White City somewhere beyond, waiting for you…

(Yes. I am that Tolkien geek.)

I stood there and nearly cried.

There are places in the World where your heart suddenly becomes too big for your body. Standing there in the literal middle of nowhere with only two ravens for company, mine jumped out of body and ran away.

It’s still out there.

And I am so happy for it.

* * *

34 hours to go on the campaign…

http://www.indiegogo.com/project/badge/422465/12262

Originally published at ANGELA N. HUNT. You can comment here or there.