BETSY MENAND

Gunnison, Colorado

Betsy Menand’s first Grand Canyon adventure was a hike down to Horseshoe Mesa on the Grandview Trail in 1980. In 1984, she was invited to hike down the Nankoweap Trail to join a research river trip on the Colorado River. This turned into 40 years of exploring the Colorado Plateau through hiking, boating, and art. Betsy earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing and painting from the University of Denver, and has been a juried and/or invited artist at Canyons and Monuments Plein Air (2021), Sedona Arts Center (2022), Grand Canyon Celebration of Art (2020, 2021, 2022), and Sedona’s 18th Annual Plein Air Festival (2022). She lives near Gunnison, Colorado at 9,000 feet on Gold Creek, the headwaters of the Colorado River that eventually flows through Grand Canyon National Park.

It is a lucky day when you find yourself with this view!

Most days, it’s when you are on your way to a southern Utah adventure or North Rim or visiting a friend just up the road at Badger Creek.

Tradition, since 1995 and the new car bridge was built, is to park at the south end and walk out on the 1929 Original Bridge / pedestrian now.

We look over the railing – look upriver – look down river – look for condors who nest nearby. I take pictures and marvel at the height above the river – 470 feet. We ponder the water and this arid landscape. We contemplate where all this water came from and where it is flowing. The color of water from above is what keeps me lingering. I take more pictures . . . someday, I will paint this view. We head back to the truck and on the way purchase turquoise earrings from the Navajo Artisan Bead Stand – to help with this lucky journey we are on.

Today – we are extra lucky! We are going on a Grand Canyon river trip.

We will float under the bridge at river mile 4.5 in a few hours and 2 weeks on will have rafted 277 miles on the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park.

View from Navajo Bridge – Colorado River | 24x36, acrylic gouache