There are many who can take only a hasty trip to the Canyon. This is to be
deplored, as the Grand Canyon is one of the sights that cannot be fully
comprehended in a day; and yet, if one has but a day, to get merely one
good long glimpse at it is worth all the effort and expense that it may
cost, even to the least wealthy of its visitors. And while it cannot be too
strongly urged that all who come prepare themselves to stay at least a
week--a month is far better--I offer a few practical suggestions to those
who have less time, and wish to use it to the fullest possible advantage.
Three Suggestions to the "One-Day" Visitor. To those who have but one full
day, a choice is offered of three courses; first, and best of all, to drive
to the head of Hermit Trail on the new Hermit Rim Road, and to visit
Yavapai and Hopi Points; the second, to drive to Grand View; the third, to
ride down Bright Angel Trail.
First Trip--An Afternoon on Hermit Rim Road to Head of Hermit Trail. To
the less strenuous visitor who wishes to see all he can in one day without
the fatigue of the trail trip, two courses are open, both of which include
driving to prominent points on the rim and sightseeing in their vicinity.
One is to drive out on Hermit Rim Road, which drive will give a variety of
scenery unequaled by any other trip to be made on the rim. This trip,
giving panorama views to the west of El Tovar, can be made in one half of
the day, let us say the afternoon, leaving the morning for a drive to
Yavapai Point, which gives corresponding panoramas to the east, though
Yavapai is only three miles from the Hotel.
It is nine miles west of El Tovar to the head of Hermit Trail on the new
Hermit Rim Road, and about three and one-half hours are required for the
trip in addition to whatever time is consumed in sightseeing at the various
points on which stops are made.
The road passes Maricopa, Hopi, Mohave and Pima Points, and some time is
spent on each, as there is some special appeal in the buttes and the cliffs
and the depths as seen from each, but all along the route the gigantic
panorama of Grand Canyon stretches for miles and miles--a world of beauty;
all along the route the attention is claimed by some surprising
feature,--the precipices of the opposite wall, the great interior rock
temples, and side canyons, and everywhere the incomparable colors.
A picturesque shelter house is to be constructed at the end of the road,
which is near the head of Hermit Trail, where visitors driving on the Rim
Road may rest before returning to El Tovar or before starting down the
trail.
On the return journey the scene is entirely different, owing to the magic
of the sun's shadows, which have changed the aspect of every wall and chasm
and temple--whether in the gorge below, or across the river and up the side
canyons to the Kaibab Plateau on the north rim, and from October to May,
during the shorter days, if the return is made late in the afternoon a stop
will be made at Hopi Point, one of the best points on the south rim from
which to watch the glories of the setting sun.
A chapter describing the Hermit Rim Road and Hermit Trail will be found in
this book, but from no description can one comprehend the magnitude and the
silent grandeur of the Canyon as they are impressed upon the senses from
this highway and from this trail.
A Morning Trip--To Yavapai Point. Though Yavapai Point is but three miles
away, the drive and the time required for sightseeing occupy about two
hours. Leaving El Tovar, the road plunges among the trees at once on
passing the railway. Here are pines, pinions and junipers, with a
sprinkling of scrub oaks, and the flowering bush with white flowers and
long velvety tendrils locally known as the cinchona. Here and there a yucca
baccata thrusts out its bayonets from the ground, as if in warning, and a
score or more of flowers give variety of color to the greens of the trees,
in due season.
Outlook from Yavapai Point. Arrived at Yavapai Point, the river can be
clearly seen at two different places; before us, directly across the
Canyon, is the Bright Angel Gorge, with a full view of Zoroaster, Brahma
and Deva Temples. To the right, the nearest promontory is Yaki Point. Below
the point, its continuation terminates in a butte of great massiveness,
which has been named O'Neill Butte, after the Arizona pioneer who was slain
during the charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill. Beyond Yaki Point,
in the far-away east, two other great promontories arrest the attention.
These are way beyond Grand View and the old Hance Trails, and are Pinal and
Lipan Points, leading the eye to a "wavy" wall, slightly to their left.
This wall, topped with a series of curves, is the western wall of the
Little Colorado River; and the smoother wall beyond, to the left, is the
further or eastern wall. Here this tributary river and canyon connect with
the Grand Canyon, from a general southeasterly course. It will be recalled
that transcontinental travelers cross the Little Colorado River at Winslow.
From that point it flows in a northwesterly direction, through the sands of
the Painted Desert, its banks bearing many and large cottonwood trees.
Wotan's Throne. Two majestic buttes in the heart of the Canyon, to the
east, have been demanding our attention for some time. They are both
towering mountains of rock, that stand out even more strikingly than do the
temples near at hand. The flat-topped mass is Wotan's Throne (once Newberry
Terrace), and is as massive as Shiva Temple, seen to the west. Its
elevation is seven thousand seven hundred feet.
Vishnu Temple. The more ornate and sculptured of the buttes is Vishnu
Temple, a solid mountain of rock carved into a majestic form by centuries
of erosion. Wherever one stands, at the eastern end of the Canyon, whether
on the north or the south, on the promontories at the rim or on the
plateaus beneath, it is the dominating and eye-compelling object. It is,
without doubt, the most stupendous mass of nature's carving in the known
world. It is seven thousand five hundred and thirty-seven feet above sea
level, and over five thousand feet above the Colorado River, which
practically laves its base.
In front of Wotan's Throne, and a trifle nearer the river, is the Angel
Gate, described in the chapter on Indian Legends.
Indian Garden. Now let the eye fall upon the Bright Angel Plateau. The
tents at Indian Garden are clearly to be seen as well as any trail party
that may happen to be crossing the plateau. The insignificant size of the
horses and mules and their riders can scarcely be believed. On the rim the
elevation is seven thousand and eighty-one feet. At the Garden the elevation
is three thousand eight hundred and seventy-six feet, so we are looking
down four thousand two hundred and five feet, over three-fourths of a mile.
Immediately below us, to the right, we see the rugged gorge of gneiss in
which flows Pipe Creek. The left fork of this (to the west) is Garden
Creek. A small break from Angel Plateau will be observed, where Garden
Creek curves to enter Pipe Creek. Here is a beautiful mass of green, and
not far away the trail that leads from the plateau to the river is in
sight.
El Tovar Point. A quarter of a mile west from Yavapai Point is El Tovar
Point (formerly called Grandeur Point), so named because it is the end of
the right arm of the amphitheatre in which El Tovar is located. Its
elevation is seven thousand feet.
Coconino Forest and Angel Plateau. To the west and south is the Coconino
Forest; beyond is seen the dry bed of the ancient Eocene lake, and the
blue ridge, where the lava-flows from Mount Floyd shut in the view. It is
a glorious expanse of over a hundred miles, and on a clear day every object
is plainly discerned. Here even better views of the Angel Plateau may be
obtained than from Yavapai Point, and an excellent outlook over the narrow
break in the great wall, where the shattering of the strata and the
deposition of talus and vegetable matter made possible the building of the
zigzag portion of the trail near the top. The faulting of the strata is
clearly seen, and the observer will not fail to note that the strata of the
left arm of El Tovar Amphitheatre are thrust up some one hundred to two
hundred feet above the level of the same strata upon which El Tovar itself
stands. This is one line of the Bright Angel fault, which extends across
the river, and accounts for the carving out of the Bright Angel Gorge as
described in the chapter "How the Canyon was Formed."
How exquisite is the rich beauty of the greens of the Douglas spruces, and
the vegetation on the upper part of the trail, contrasted with the reds and
grays and creams and buffs of the rocks around!
The round trip from El Tovar to Yavapai Point is about six miles. A
foot-path has been cut from El Tovar to El Tovar Point, so that visitors
may walk to and fro between these so diverse and yet equally attractive
outlooks over the Canyon.
Many visitors, however, after the drive to Yavapai Point, go to Hopi Point.
And, while this point is passed on the Rim Road drive, it is also very
popular as a morning drive.
Drive to Hopi Point. This point is three miles to the west, and is just
beyond Maricopa Point, which is practically the left arm of El Tovar
Amphitheatre. The round trip is about six miles, taking in both points, and
occupies from an hour and a half to two hours. Those who go in private
conveyances generally stay longer, and make a three-hour trip of it.
Leaving El Tovar, the road turns southwest for a short distance, and then
enters the forest to the north. It is a restful drive over a section of the
well-made Hermit Rim Road.
View at Hopi Point. The first impression when one arrives at Hopi Point is
of the nearness of the buttes, and the sheer precipitousness of the place
upon which he stands. Both are owing to the fact that Hopi Point is thrust
far into the heart of the Canyon. Its elevation is seven thousand and
forty-nine feet.
Dana Butte. Immediately facing the visitor, a continuation of Hopi Point at
the five thousand and twenty-five foot level, is a butte that would dwarf
into insignificance the most stupendous of all the world's city
sky-scrapers, yet here it is hardly noticeable in the wealth of more
massive and majestic structures. It is Dana Butte, so named after the great
geologist. Across the river, which here can be seen in five different
places, are the temples to the right or east of Bright Angel Gorge, while
Buddha and Manu on the left (west) are equally in evidence. But right
before us is the dominating mass of Shiva Temple, with Isis Temple and
Cheops Pyramid guarding it on the right. To the left, new architectural
forms and masses come out into clearer view, two of these being stupendous
structures of great beauty and majesty that guard the approach to Shiva
Temple. These are Osiris and Horus Temples, the latter being in front.
Tower of Set. Just before Horus is a smaller but massive structure, known
as the Tower of Set. The elevation of Osiris above sea level is six
thousand six hundred and thirty-seven feet, that of Horus six thousand one
hundred and fifty feet, and of the Tower of Set five thousand nine hundred
and ninety-seven feet. Beyond these, to the west and north, are Confucius
and Mencius Temples, the latter being the nearer. These are respectively at
an elevation of seven thousand one hundred and twenty-eight feet and seven
thousand feet. The eye now rests on Point Sublime, the spot where Captain
Dutton indited his vividly descriptive accounts of the Great Canyon.
Marsh Butte. On this side of the river, nearly opposite Mencius Temple, is
a butte of singularly beautiful structure, of an elevation of four thousand
seven hundred and thirty feet. This is named Marsh Butte, in honor of the
great paleontologist, the rival of the equally great Cope. In the far-away
distance is Havasupai Point, the most notable of all the points of the
south rim, because of its great projection over the river.
Dutton Point. Across from Havasupai Point, on the north side, is the mass
of Powell Plateau, the "nose" of which, facing this way, is named Dutton
Point, after the poet-geologist. Beyond, in the faraway distance, is to be
seen the curve of the Canyon wall, at the great bend of the river, where
the granite disappears from the Inner Gorge, and, resting upon the paler
blue of the horizon, is the line of the Uinkaret Mountains in Southern
Utah, about sixty-five miles away. What a wondrous outlook it is!
On returning, a short stop is made at Maricopa Point, where the views are
much the same, but changed by the new angle of vision. It is one of the
great charms of the Canyon that each point of view, even though not more
than half a mile away, reveals new and interesting features of the
stupendous wonder.
Second Trip--Drive to Grand View. This is a fourteen-mile trip, over a
fairly good road, made in comfort in two and one-half hours. One may stay
from two to four hours, observe all he wishes to see, and return to El
Tovar in another two and a half hours, thus making twenty-eight miles for
the round trip. The drive is through the Coconino Forest, by narrow
canyoncitos (little canyons), washes, and through grassy glades and royal
parks, where one need not be surprised at any moment to see deer or
antelope bound before him. A full description of this trip is found in the
chapter devoted to Grand View and its trail, the scenery being too varied
and important to be hastily described.
If one has but one day, and he wishes to spend it on the rim, the Grand
View trip may be made with a limited amount of time devoted to sightseeing
at that point, so that on the return the drive may be taken to Hopi Point
in time to view the sunset. This, however, can usually only be done in the
summer months, when the sunset is late enough to afford time.
Third Trip--Down Bright Angel Trail. To an ordinarily well person, there
is neither danger nor serious fatigue in this trip, but it is not to be
ignored that riding down, down, down, for four thousand four hundred and
thirty feet (the difference in elevation between the rim and the river)
puts a pressure upon certain generally unused muscles, so that one returns
tired. But it is a healthful fatigue, and invariably benefits all who
experience it. To go down the trail and back is enough to accomplish in one
day, unless the visitor is very "strenuous," although not a few do take
the drive out to Hopi Point and see the sunset, upon returning from the
trail trip. Those who take this ride down the trail, after arriving on the
morning train, do not go as far down as the river. They visit the Indian
Garden, and are then taken out to a prominent point of Angel Plateau, and
there obtain a fine view of the river. From the scenic standpoint, this is
much to be preferred to going down to the river itself, especially when
time is limited. The trail to the river is down a side gorge, where one's
view is materially obstructed, and while there is great satisfaction in
standing immediately before the river itself, and seeing it roll along
between the gloomy walls of the Inner Gorge, one does not see as much of
it, or in so striking a setting, as from the plateau, one thousand three
hundred and twenty feet above.
If one is determined to go to the river, however, it will be necessary for
him to arrange for a special guide, and push along down the trail with
vigor, for the regular trail party for the river leaves at 8:30 A.M., while
the train does not arrive at El Tovar until about 9 o'clock, and one may
wish to take breakfast before starting. Hence the start is seldom
accomplished until after ten o'clock, two hours beyond the allotted time.
Sunrise and Sunset at Hopi Point. It already has been pointed out that
this is the strong scenic point near to El Tovar, for both eastern and
western canyon scenery, though the eastern is not so fully revealed as from
Yavapai Point. Regular conveyances take visitors out to this point both
morning and evening. The scenic effects are heightened in the Canyon a
hundredfold by the presence of the morning and evening shadows. In the
glare of the midday sun, the temples, towers, walls and buttes lose their
distinctiveness, while in the shadows of either early morning or the late
afternoon, they stand forth as vividly as a profile cameo cut in black on a
light ground. As the hours of sunrise and sunset vary, the drives are so
planned as to reach the points at the proper time, so as not to weary the
visitor by too long waiting, or lose the enchanting effects by too late
arrival. As the sun sinks, the shadows lengthen and deepen, bringing out
into bold relief features hitherto unobserved, and giving a sublimity to
the vast scene that it did not possess in the full blaze of the sun. If
clouds obscure the direct rays, all the better, for then other and even
more startling effects of beauty and color are produced. At times the whole
Canyon seems filled with a luminous mist, in which the temples float into
individual prominence in a remarkable manner.
Then, as the vision is turned to the east, one may see the shadows
gradually, and, at the last, rapidly rise and shut off the peach glows, the
vermilions, the absolutely fiery lights, that often blaze in lingering
affection on the peaks they love so well to illumine. No two nights are the
effects the same. One can never grow weary of watching them. Sometimes the
tones are soft and tender. Again the vividness of the flaming colors is as
if the god of color were declaring his power, and demanding special homage.
From the soft tint of rose-ashes to the fiery red of a blinding sun, the
whole gamut of colors and effects is used. The afterglow is by many
considered more alluring than the sunset itself.
The Canyon Before Sunrise. An exquisite effect is seen by those who watch
the Canyon before sunrise. A soft flood of reddish purple fills the vault,
and rests in perfect harmony upon the great north wall. Little by little
the darker tints are subdued, every moment adding to the charm of the
changing effects, until suddenly the sun bursts over the horizon, floods
the plateaus with light, or casts dark and richly purple shadows, and this
sets wall and recess, mountain butte and deep abyss in startling contrasts.
Returning in Time for Trains. One thing should be noted about these rim or
trail trips. They are all planned so as to afford ample time for meals
before and after making them and also to insure the catching of trains. The
Fred Harvey system runs in harmony with the Santa Fe Railway system, so
that no matter how nervous the visitor, he may rest perfectly contented
that when he goes on any of these trips he will always be back "on time,"
both for meals and trains.