Have you ever felt disappointed by a famous outdoor attraction? It happens all the time: While many visitors to nature’s grandest spectacles are utterly bedazzled, others somehow just don’t get it.

Todd Wiggins, who guides backpacking trips in the Grand Canyon for REI Adventures, reflects here on how he and his brother could have totally different views of the famous national park:

The Grand Canyon impresses each person differently and, surprisingly, some not at all.

Take my brother, for example. Earlier this year, he and his wife were in northern Arizona for work, so I insisted they take the time to drive through the park to see the Grand Canyon. I didn’t want them to miss the opportunity to see this natural wonder of the world and the place I am privileged to call my “office” for 8 weeks each spring and fall.

As someone who has completed more than 60 rim-to-river trips in the canyon either as a guide or exploring new trails on my own, I know the Grand Canyon to be an entirely unique and awe-inspiring place. Surely, they would see it, too.

Unfortunately, my brother described the Grand Canyon, the place that attracts admirers from around the globe, as “a big hole in the ground.” To add insult, my sister-in-law said they could have saved their $25 park entrance fee.

In brief, you just don’t know what you’re seeing when you drive to a lookout and peep into the canyon still connected to crowds and pavement.

The canyon continually surprises me. It awakens from winter into a burst of spring flowers. On rare and lucky occasions, April snow dusts the rim as we hike along the remote and rocky trails that traverse through the canyon’s backcountry.

Rain is also an exceptional experience. Rain showers enhance the canyon’s already rich palette of color. Plants become a deeper shade of green, and flowers seem to open wider to absorb the water as it falls.

One distinctive characteristic of rain showers in the canyon is the smell it releases from one of the canyon’s iconic plants, the creosote bush. The creosote is one of the oldest living plants in the world and can host as many as 60 species of insects, nearly 1/3 of which depend solely on the creosote’s flowers for their survival. Inhaling this restorative and bracing aroma, it’s easy to understand why desertphiles describe this as the smell of rain in the canyon.

Weather and clouds provide momentary relief from the sun and create a visually-striking interplay of shadows and sunlight across the canyon. Cameras click trying to capture this masterful blend of light and dark, but photos rarely communicate the experience fully to someone who hasn’t been there.

All photos courtesy of Todd Wiggins.

Footnote: River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon, Huisinga, Makarick, and Watters, Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana, 2006.