Brighty, Melted

Having driven to Alaska and back, I’m working on a travelogue to be posted soon. However, this brief message will provide an update on the bronze statue of Brighty of the Grand Canyon, which I discussed a few posts back.

On 12 July 2025, a wildfire on the North Rim destroyed the park lodge where the statue of Brighty had been for decades. Although 600 pounds of bronze, Brighty could not take the heat. He melted as the 1937 structure burned around him. Here are photos of him I posted previously, myself in 2016, my sister in 1973:

And here’s Brighty after the fire:

photo from Grand Canyon Historical Society on Facebook.

That famous burro had been a trusty friend each time I visited, like Abe in Washington, DC, whom I always see at night because, in the dark, empty memorial he invariably shares some bit of wisdom from his big chair. I hope Lincoln can withstand the current assault on the Union he saved.

Brighty will have to live on in memory.

A few years ago, my son Aaron and I were at the North Rim, and the first thing we did was go into the lodge to experience the iconic view from the “sun room.” It looked like this:

from the National Park Service Flickr site.

As we stood gazing out at the majesty, we heard some young ones playing below the window sills. They were not looking at the canyon, but rather examining the dust on the sills and anything they could find that had been dropped by previous viewers. They were talking loudly and happily with each other.

I did not find them annoying, but soon heard a mother’s voice calling to them in a distinct southern accent. I said to myself, “I know that voice!” and looked around.

It was Rita Faulkner, accompanied by her husband, Scott, and three sons. They had driven across the entire southern tier from Florida. I knew them at Georgia Tech decades earlier.

We had an unexpected reunion. Such encounters happen in magical places. Of course, the Grand Canyon itself is of a deeper magic than this little structure on the rim. But we humans revere our alters, our cairns. We like to create shrines at places that hold significant meaning for us.

from the National Park Service Flickr site.

I’m sure the lodge will be rebuilt, hopefully, as rustic and majestic. Above, left, is the burned front of the lodge. Compare the burnt out windowns above, right with the cozy sun room of the photo further above, before the burn.

I mourn what has been lost. But that’s how life is, I guess.