Accessibility links
Scott Thybony Commentaries Thoughts and reflections of life around the Grand Canyon from local author and commentator Scott Thybony.
Scott Thybony Commentaries

Podcast Directory

Scott Thybony Commentaries

Scott Thybony Commentaries

From KNAU News Talk - Arizona Public Radio

Thoughts and reflections of life around the Grand Canyon from local author and commentator Scott Thybony.

Most Recent Episodes

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: Brimstone Gulch

A photographer set off to explore a slot canyon in the desert south of Escalante, Utah. He followed the rim of Brimstone Gulch until locating a break leading down to an eight-foot cliff. Knowing he wouldn't be able to climb back, John Ey dropped to the bottom certain he could find a way through. He passed the point of no return on a Tuesday in October, 1996. The walls of the gorge pressed tight, forcing him to squeeze sideways in places and wedge himself between the walls to work around

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: Cimarron River

Leaving the interstate I entered the high plains of New Mexico where each clump of trees sheltered a house, many of them abandoned. The branches bent to the northeast, holding the shape of the wind even when the air was still. In this wide-open country every direction disappeared into its own vanishing point. Where the road curved down to the Cimarron River, I suddenly found myself back in canyon country among cliffs and angular mesas. I followed the river into Oklahoma and entered the town of

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: "Heat Zombies" - Summer On The Bright Angel Trail

The heat wave has eased, giving me a chance to slip in a canyon hike before the next one begins. I time my arrival at the trailhead for dawn to avoid peak heat. A week ago the bottom of Grand Canyon registered a high of 115 degrees Fahrenheit. When it gets into triple-digits hikers shuffle along with blank stares, becoming what the inner canyon rangers call "heat zombies." Bright Angel Trail cuts sharply back on itself, reversing direction in a long switchback as it descends deeper. The constant

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: "Heat Zombies" - Summer On The Bright Angel Trail

Listen · 3:50

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: A Wave Of Fire

Thousands of firefighters are putting their lives on the line this summer in Arizona and across the West as wildfires rage on drought-sticken land. In this month's Canyon Commentary, writer Scott Thybony brings us a story to honor these firefighters. It's about the 1996 Hochderffer Hills Fire near Flagstaff, and it gives us a snapshot of the risks fire crews take to save our homes and forests. A line of firefighters worked to clear a break north of the San Francisco Peaks as thick smoke billowed

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: Circling The Canyon

A collection of early Mormon documents now archived at Brigham Young University tell the story of the first recorded group of explorers to ride completely around the Grand Canyon, circumnavigating the great gorge. The documents belonged to the group's leader, John Steele, and reveal details about the 1862 expedition. In his latest Canyon Commentary, Scott Thybony shares some of Steele's epic adventures. Inside a home in southern Utah sits an old sheet iron trunk with an address painted on the

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: Home Of The Jackalope

What better day than today – April 1 st - for a story about Jackalopes, the elusive half-rabbit-half-antelope conglomerate animal of urban legend? KNAU's Scott Thybony puts his imagination to work in his latest Canyon Commentary, musing about all the mythical creatures that have found a home in the legendary landscapes of the West. Mythical creatures have long found a natural habitat in the American West. A town square in Wyoming has an immense statue of a jackrabbit sporting antelope horns.

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: The Dust Storm

Storm-blue clouds surge above the dunefield where we stand looking north. On the far horizon dust explodes in plumes 300-feet high along a front several miles wide. Photographer Dave Edwards and I are on assignment deep in the Painted Desert watching a dust storm head our way. The air holds still for a long moment until the wind picks up and the ground begins to stir. Grains of sand shift, and soon the entire dune turns kinetic, vibrating hypnotically. To the north, the wall of dust moves

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: The Runaway

Every so often events spiral out of control, and the world goes mad. In the spring of 1968 a sniper killed Martin Luther King, triggering riots in cities across the country, followed by the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The fighting in Vietnam kept intensifying, and the peace movement turned violent. Then a momentary reprieve arrived, a pause when things made sense again. Apollo 8 launched on December 21, becoming the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. And just as the astronauts

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: The Sanctuary

Neutral ground seems a little hard to come by right now considering the current sociopolitical climate of the country. But, it's not a pipedream to imagine a place where people put their differences aside and unite for the greater good. Writer Scott Thybony brings us the story of just such a place in this month's Canyon Commentary. Zuni Salt Lake, near the Four Corners, is sacred to many Indigenous people of the region. It's where opposing Tribes were able to put down their weapons and

Scott Thybony's Canyon Commentary: Sharing Food

Sharing food with strangers is among the oldest human customs. It can serve as an act of kindness, unity, or ritual, and can help us hold on to traditions. In Scott Thybony's latest Canyon Commentary, he explores the idea of sharing food through the framework of his world travels.

Scott Thybony Commentaries

Podcast Directory