The Grand Canyon is the supreme epic of erosion; there water has
perpetuated its sublimest masterpiece in stone. “The Grand Canyon fills
me with awe,” wrote Roosevelt. “It is beyond comparison--beyond
description; absolutely unparalleled throughout the wide world.”
“Wildness so Godful, cosmic, primeval, bestows a new sense of the
earth’s beauty and size,” said John Muir. “By far the most sublime of
all earthly spectacles,” is the opinion of world travelers who have
studied its grandeur.
The Grand Canyon may be described as a vast and intricate range of
sunken mountains cut through a hundred miles of high plateau, “a
mountain chain reversed.” Usually it is pictured as a colossal chasm,
220 miles in length, a mile deep and some twelve miles wide; but it is
more precisely a measureless labyrinth of canyons with an infinite array
of magnificent architectural forms upthrust from their depths. Deep down
in the uttermost gorge of granite, the Colorado, “the rushingest,
roaringest” river in the land, grinds ceaselessly at the rocks.
Numberless rich and vivid tones of gray, green, blue, red and mauve tint
its mighty walls and temples, and, independent of these, the sunlight
pours daily into the chasm a shifting color parade of exquisite blues
and purples, glowing reds and golds.
Of the Kaibab division of the Grand Canyon, Captain Dutton states: “It
is the sublimest portion of the chasm, being nearly a thousand feet
deeper than any other, far more diversified and complex and is adorned
with a multitude of magnificent features, either wanting or much less
strongly represented elsewhere.” According to the _U. S. Geological
Survey_, the Kaibab division is from seven to fourteen miles wide and
from 5,300 to 6,000 feet deep. The elevation of the North Rim is from
8,000 to 9,000 feet and it is eroded extensively into tremendous lateral
gorges and amphitheatres. The North Rim has the incomparable Kaibab
Forest, uncounted unexplored cliff dwellings, and a summer climate
distinguished by unfailingly cool nights. Along its winding edge are a
number of noted capes and headlands that reveal some of the grandest
aspects of the Canyon.
[Illustration: _Natural Bridge, Bryce Canyon_]
[Illustration: _Bluebeard’s Castle, Bryce Canyon_]
Bright Angel Point stretches out between the Transept and Bright Angel
Canyon; from its dizzy tip may be seen many of the finest temples: Deva,
Brahma, Zoroaster, Wotan’s Throne, Manu, Buddha, Isis, Angels Gate and
Cheops Pyramid. Near by is a picturesque spring with a perfectly
preserved cliff dwelling adjacent. The Kaibab Trail descends from the
Point to the Suspension Bridge across the Colorado River, where it joins
the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim.
Cape Royal, Cape Final and Point Imperial are on the huge Walhalla
Plateau (locally called “Greenland”) southeast of Bright Angel Camp, and
each reveals panoramas of greatest grandeur. Point Imperial, the highest
place on the Rim, affords views of the Marble Canyon, Lee’s Ferry,
Navajo Mountain and Houserock Valley. The wonderful views from Cape
Royal extend west, south and east over the templed gorge. On the way to
Cape Royal are Cliff Spring, many cliff dwelling ruins and Angels
Window.
Point Sublime, west of Bright Angel Point, is another celebrated
viewpoint, esteemed by Dutton to surpass all others. Thence may be seen
the Hindu and Aztec amphitheatres, Powell Plateau, the Dragon, the
Scorpion, and imperial Shiva, perhaps the most magnificent of all the
Canyon’s glorious temples.
Every visitor to the North Rim of Grand Canyon should make the trip to
Cape Royal and Point Sublime.
[Illustration: _The Wall of Windows, Bryce Canyon_]
[Illustration: _The Sculptor’s Studio, Bryce Canyon_]