Last year, the Grand Canyon National Geographic Visitor Center installed an Arizona Trail display in the interior courtyard sponsored by Nature Valley. It’s a fantastic display and the Arizona Trail Association was invited to create a promo for the trail that would run in the previews before the Grand Canyon IMAX movie.
Arizona Trail Courtyard Display
I worked with the extremely talented videographer Levi Davis and a whole cast of hikers, bikers, equestrians and runners all over the state to get just the right shots to exemplify the trail’s beauty and biodiversity. Levi also used footage that he had from my Arizona Trail Trek. London-based musician Jonathan Wright generously donated the use of his epic piece of music Undiscovered World to set the mood. Then we were lucky enough to get Tucson radio talent Cathy Rivers from KXCI to record her beautiful voice for the narration. The result is a two-minute tour of the Arizona Trail that will hopefully inspire many journeys. I couldn’t wait to see it on the big screen, so when I was planning on traveling to Page for presentations at the Glen Canyon Visitor Center and the City Council I dropped by to take a look. Here’s the video:
It was amazing to see on the IMAX screen and know that thousands of people a year will be learning about the Arizona Trail. It was also a momentous occasion for me- twenty years ago when I moved to Arizona from the Chicago suburbs, my first stop was the Grand Canyon. But when I arrived it was raining, so I went and saw the IMAX movie while I waited for the storm to clear up. Now I was the one on the big screen! I am so pleased with the way the project turned out. Levi is an amazing artist and really captured the essence of the trail.
We also produced a general version without the bit about the courtyard display that can be used for all sorts of promotions and websites that feature information about the trail.
Pretty fantastic stuff- my presentations in Page went really well and now I’m headed to Moab for a Gossamer Gear Trail Ambassador weekend. I can’t wait to meet the other Trail Ambassadors- we’re going to be doing dayhikes in the area and I’m sure it will be a blast!
In Wildlife Rehabilitation Northwest Tucson news, we’ve got a beautiful Ferruginous Hawk, which is the largest American hawk. Here’s a pic of it and for comparison, a Swainson’s Hawk and a Red-Tailed Hawk.
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Ferruginous Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-Tailed Hawk
Sirena's Wanderings 
Best wishes for sunshine, good weather and good times in Moab. Congrats on taking the opportunity to visit the land of red rocks. I hope you get to visit the petro hoard, as seen in this report. Lots of good stuff out there. Rob of the WV. Here’s some examples: http://wildernessvagabond.com/moab-2014/moab-2014.htm
[…] couple stops to make- the first was the Grand Canyon National Geographic Visitor Center to see the Arizona Trail promo on the IMAX screen. It was amazing to see it so large and know that so many people were going to […]