I had a plan. See, after writing thousands of words on why you shouldn’t go to a national park this summer, I was going to spend a day in the Grand Canyon, get really annoyed with all the people there, and then write a very snarky post about how right I was about everything. I had a plan.

But then we got there, and it looked like this:

Immediately, I knew my plan was in trouble. So if snark is what you want, CLICK HERE. Otherwise, I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking.

First, we walked downhill. This was tiring because we are old and our knees hurt.

Then for a very short time, the trail became flatter. That was nice.

Then we walked uphill.

Near the top, there were many people. But we were slow, so this was okay.

So, should you go to a National Park this summer? I can’t say for sure, but know this: I’m glad I did.

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Max Wilson is a graduate student studying ecology at Arizona State University. You can follow him on twitter @maxomillions.

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