GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

BRIAN GATLIN SPENT a lot of time exploring Colorado’s mountains and Utah’s deserts before visiting the Grand Canyon, but his first view of the Canyon blew away anything he’d ever seen. After a couple of visits, he knew he needed to figure out a way to be there for more than a week at a time. In 2002, he came back as a seasonal ranger, and now he supervises interpretation on the east side of the park, where visitors often drive past exceptional vistas such as Desert View and Lipan Point without stopping. “It’s a little farther away from the main center of visitation, which gives it a little more of a quiet feel,” Gatlin says. “I think that gives the Canyon an extra opportunity to speak to you.” But people should be careful when they visit, he says. “They might end up like me and find themselves unable to leave.”