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Ronald Hilton Quote of the Day: Grand Canyon and Its Hyperbolical Eulogies (John Eipper, USA, 03/24/14 5:46 am)

Now that I've returned to the routine at WAIS HQ/Royal Oak, it's time to process the wealth of information gathered from the Ronald Hilton archives at the Hoover Institution, Stanford.  During my fortnight of research, I transcribed a good number of Hilton quotes.  I thought I'd share them with the Forum from time to time.

Today's installment is one of the earliest, from RH's pre-Stanford days. In a typescript travelogue titled "Northern Arizona," undated but apparently from 1938-'39, he wrote: "Grand Canyon is the only natural site I know which deserves the hyperbolical eulogies attached to it. Even for the present-day tourist it is a surprise; it must have seemed like an incredible mirage to its discoverers."

Indeed. My only visit to the Grand Canyon was on Christmas Eve, 2010.  Standing on the edge I recall remarking to Aldona: "Imagine what the Conquistadores said when they first saw this big hole."  Given the Spaniard's predilection for salty oaths, it must have been a strong one.  "¡Mirad, qué agujero, joder!" comes to mind.

So here's the RH-inspired question for the Forum:  what natural site fully deserves its "hyperbolical eulogies"?  In addition to the Grand Canyon, I'd single out Machu Picchu in Perú, which to my mind is one of the few places that photographs can never fully capture.  Part of this is the soundtrack from the Urubamba river rushing below.  To be sure, MP is a nature-human hybrid, so we may have to disqualify it from our consideration.

So what other natural wonders are candidates for the deserved hyperbole?

 

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