Photo: Death in the Afternoon

According to my Lonely Planet about 250 people require ranger assistance in exiting the Grand Canyon due to dehydration. Some don't even make it out. At the bottom of the canyon, I put the guidebook back in the pack and reach for the iodine pills that will purify the life-giving water for which my three parched friends and I desperately thirst. But, where are the pills? I can’t find them anywhere. My friends start to resign themselves to a slow, agonizing death. I eventually find them. And I also find a respect for the vast national park.