When my 15-year-old granddaughter, Talya, asked me what my favorite destination was, I had to take a minute. After 35 years as a travel writer, my usual answer to that question is wherever I’ve been last, but I felt she deserved more than my usual flippant reply.

Driving along a winding, narrow cliff, a 1300-foot drop on the driver’s side, I clung to my heart, with the rest of me halfway out the passenger-side window. Hiking slick rock at seemingly a 90-degree angle, I came to a visual wonder, and understood why so many made the climb.