Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary

In this month’s Canyon Commentary, author Scott Thybony ponders the ancient story of a Hopi boy who embarks on an epic adventure on the Colorado River in order save his people from drought. In researching the tale, Thybony, a former river guide, unlocked a profound connection to the past.

Author Scott Thybony had no idea a book about a journey to the Grand Canyon by a band of scalphunters in the 19th century would lead him to an important fossil tracksite millions of years old.

Writing assignments have their share of misadventures. In his latest Canyon Commentary, author Scott Thybony recalls how the haunting music recorded in a deep, stone chamber made the difficulties worth the effort.

During the past year, place names from the Grand Canyon have turned up on the surface of Mars. To find out why, author Scott Thybony sought out scientists from the Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff who’d been exploring the Martian surface.

Trains are so much a part of a railroad town they tend to blend in with the background. But author Scott Thybony became curious about those who drive them so he sat down with one of the first female railroad engineers in the U.S. to listen to her stories of the home road.

Five decades ago, a young Hopi underwent a grueling journey as part of a traditional initiation ceremony near the winter solstice. He recently recalled the experience to author Scott Thybony, and talked about how the test of his endurance and commitment to the Hopi way taught him humility.

In this month’s Canyon Commentary, author Scott Thybony reflects on past assignments and his appreciation for all the people he’s met along the way. They’ve ranged from a firefighter overtaken by a wall of flame to a Mescalero woman gathering water from a sacred spring.

Along Highway 89 north of Flagstaff, three ghostly faces painted onto wooden posts stare out on the windswept high-desert expanse. The site has become a tourist attraction and even something of a shrine. In his latest Canyon Commentary, author Scott Thybony reveals the little-known origins of what’s known as the Wupatki Spirit Totem.

In this month's Canyon Commentary, author Scott Thybony sets out to find a spring, which is also the location of Arizona's oldest known Spanish inscription along an ancient trail from Hopi to Zuni.

Scott Thybony heads into the Painted Desert for a much-needed reality check. After spending time among the wind-carved cliffs and hoodoos, he renews his appreciation for the real world with all its strangeness and wild beauty.