Foreign names - Brahma, Isis, Vishnu, Pollux - but unmistakably American Gods, 70 million year old geologic survivors towering above the eroding canyon.

Today I'm alone - hiking along the rim far away from the handrails and signs that guide the worship of the masses at popular Grand Canyon viewpoints.

At midday I pause on Mimbreno Point to watch Vespa's white house shining in the sun, setup camp on Mescalero Point where Diana's Temple splits the world into light and shadow, rise in the darkness to see Pollux in the moonlight and at first light greet the emerging pantheon.

With luck wind and weather will erase my footprints before the next pilgrim arrives at the edge to make traceless offering to these American Gods.