A Feeling of Peace

Winning entry in the San Juan County Public Lands Story Contest.

by Ethan Lyman

For an extended family trip, we decided to go on the Hole in the Rock trail. We would spend about three days on the trip.
I woke up on the cool August morning. We all piled into the truck and left for my grandpa’s house. When we arrived we started loading and unloading certain things. When finished, we had a family prayer, and went on our way towards the trail for the Hole in the Rock.
We began, by driving our trucks to a lot where we parked our vehicles, and unloaded our smaller vehicles like Razors and Motorcycles.
Then, we were off. After a lunch on the way, we got to Marble Canyon. We made camp and slept.
The next day, late in the afternoon, I decided to climb to the top of one of the many tall and rough rock formations. I went to where my brother was sitting in a camp chair.
I asked, “Do you want to climb to the top with me?” He said, “No, I don’t feel like it.” Knowing no one else would want to go either, I set off to climb the tall rock face.
When I finally reached the top, I just sat there and watched the sun go down. The surrounding landscape seemed overpowering. From my vantage point, I could see everything below.
The other rock formations were large as well, but only a few of them reached even higher than where I was. From a distance, everything looked a tannish color. I felt such a feeling of profound serenity that I wish I never had to leave. I felt like that was where I belonged. It helped me sort through my thoughts.