Gone Back into the Earth (1981) Summary and Analysis

In this essay, the author describes a several day trip he and forty other travelers made through the Grand Canyon, a trip organized by musician Paul Winter (again, see "Important People"), who wanted, the author says, to explore the relationship between music and landscape. Each day, the author writes, he and his companions are somehow changed by what they see, hear, and otherwise experience.

Over time, the travelers become close in the way that groups on a shared journey do - developing a common language, common jokes, and a sense of camaraderie in the face of difficult obstacles. There is also an emerging sense of perspective, and of humility, part of which is triggered by a growing awareness of the lives lived in the Canyon by a now extinct indigenous community, the Anasazi...