Scott Thybony Commentaries

Navigating the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is a big responsibility, especially when you’ve got a boat full of passengers … especially when those passengers are visually impaired. In this month’s Canyon Commentary, Scott Thybony recalls one of his final trips as a river guide. It was one of the most epic and memorable runs he ever made.

When NASA launched the Voyager spacecraft in 1977, there were two golden records on board. They contain sounds and songs from Earth, sort of a musical time capsule for any extraterrestrial being that might come upon them. One of the songs comes from a Navajo chant called "Nightway." In his latest Canyon Commentary, Scott Thybony recalls hearing the song while traveling with a Navajo medicine man. 

This winter is one of the driest on record, but the winter of 1877 was another story. Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall were documented in the journal of Lucy Flake, a pioneer woman traveling by covered wagon from Utah to Arizona with her young family. At Black Falls, near what is now Wupatki National Monument, Lucy described the hardships and anguish of the group. Commentator Scott Thybony recently hiked that same dry river bed and remembered Lucy’s suffering. 

Nearly 120 meteors an hour streamed across the sky earlier this month during the Geminid meteor shower. It’s considered one of most entertaining celestial events for Earthlings because the meteors are so bright and abundant. Writer Scott Thybony decided to view the show from a prehistoric—but undisclosed—site where an ancient meteorite is buried. He has more in his latest Canyon Commentary. 

As Thanksgiving approaches, commentator Scott Thybony remembers a summer spent with an Inuit family in the Canadian Arctic. The experience was one of different cultures coming together learning what they had in common, and as is often the case, food was a connective thread. Thybony has more in his latest Canyon Commentary.