To Grand View. One may go by regular stages or by private conveyance from
El Tovar to Grand View. The distance to the hotel is fourteen miles. The
drive is through the glens and winding roads of the Coconino Forest, with
junipers, pines, sage-brush, atriplex and the beautifully flowered Cowania
Mexicana, or mountain mahogany, commonly known as the quinine tree,
abounding on every hand. Though comparatively close to the Canyon, one
seldom catches a glimpse of it, for the country slopes away from the rim.
The ride is through a thickly forested region of giant pines.
Varieties of Flowers and Shrubs. During the season of flowers one will be
surprised at the great diversity presented. There are varieties of
artemisia or sage-brush, antennaria, columbine, the barberry, spiraea,
Russian thistle, eriophyllous, chrysothamnus, plantago, dandelions,
lepidium, chaenactic, linum, hosackia, cirsium, astragulus, ambrosia,
euphorbia, pleustemon, achillea millefolium, erodium, or stork's bill,
orthocarpous, vilia, solidago, lactuca, helianthus, erigeron, brickellia,
malvastrum, ptelea or a desert hop-tree, polygonum, sphedra, lupines,
castilleia, lathyrus, verbena and a score of others. I merely name those I
saw on one day's drive to and from Grand View, so that the botanist,
amateur or professional, may know the rich treat there is in store for him.
For, under the peculiar climatic conditions here, many of these more common
plants present singular variations.
When about half the distance is passed, the road enters Long Jim Canyon, so
named after a well-known sheepherder of the early days who used to wander
here with his sheep.
Pompey's Pillar and Thor's Hammer. Shortly before reaching Grand View
Point, the road passes not far from the rim, where it curves into a small
amphitheatre in which are two striking columns of erosion, Pompey's Pillar
and Thor's Hammer.
Grand View Hotel. Grand View Hotel is directly upon the rim, and commands a
fine outlook over the open portion of the Canyon at its very beginning. The
hotel was built by and is under the management of P. D. Berry, whose
homestead is near by. Mr. Berry was one of the discoverers of the mine
below and one of the locators of the Grand View Trail.
Grand View Point. Grand View Point (elevation seven thousand four hundred
and ninety-five feet) is about a mile from the hotel. It affords the most
extensive view possible of this part of the Canyon. The highest point, too,
is at the eastern end of the Canyon, being two hundred and eleven feet
higher than Zuni Point (seven thousand one hundred and fifty-seven feet),
one hundred and twenty-five feet higher than Pinal Point (seven thousand
three hundred and seventy feet), and thirty feet higher than Navaho Point,
all of them salient points to the east.
Cliff Dwellings. There are a number of cliff dwellings in this vicinity,
which take from half a day to a day to visit. The best preserved of these
are in the gulches of the Coconino Forest, on the rocks of which are also
some interesting pictographs. There are remains of dwellings on Moran's
Point, and at various places along the rim of the Canyon. A few miles to
the east of Grand View Point is the junction of the Little Colorado with
the Colorado River, as it flows out of the Marble Canyon into the Grand
Canyon. Here, for nearly a score of miles, the strata have been shattered
and carried away, so that the Canyon is opened up, as it were, more than in
any other place. A vast number of pillars of erosion stand revealed in
wonderful variety.
It should never be forgotten that the Canyon is so diversified that each
point and each trail has its own distinctive charms, and he is wise, in the
Canyon study, who sees it from as many points of vantage as he can.
The trip from Grand View Hotel to the plateau overlooking the Granite
Gorge, three thousand five hundred feet below, and return, is made in one
day. The old Grand View Trail leaves the rim about a mile from the hotel,
winding its way down from one stratum to another, around points which
command extensive outlooks.
Grand View Trail. A new trail from Grand View Point, one and a half miles
north of the hotel, joins the old trail about a thousand feet below the
rim, and continues to the top of what is locally known as the "blue
limestone," two thousand five hundred feet below the rim, to the Horseshoe
Mesa, where the Canyon Copper Company mine is located. Here also are the
bunk-houses and boarding-houses of the miners, the corral for the burros
used in packing ore to the surface, and several small sleeping cottages for
travelers. The distance from the rim to the camp is three miles on the old
trail, and about half a mile less by the new trail. To the mouth of the
mine is another half mile. The trail was begun in June, 1892, and the first
ore pack-train went over it in February, 1893. In 1901 the interests of
Berry and his partners were bought by the Canyon Copper Company. The
distinctive charm of the Grand View Trail is the wide and unobstructed
outlook which one gets here nearly all the way down. It is not boxed in.
Horseshoe Mesa. The start from Grand View Hotel is generally made after
lunch, so that one arrives at the camp of the Canyon Copper Company in time
for supper, and lodges there over night. After supper, a visit is made to
the edge of the Horseshoe Mesa for the sunset view. This is one of the more
extended views afforded only from such a mesa or plateau thrust well out
into the heart of the Canyon. Up, down, and around, there is scenic
attraction. The river flows on in the deep Granite Gorge below. The best
time, too, for seeing and knowing the Canyon is at the sunset (or sunrise)
hour. Then the shadows are long, and the various objects stand out
distinctly.
Grand View Caves. The following morning a visit may be made to the
limestone caves or the Copper Company's mine. The former were discovered in
1897 by the camp cook, Joseph Gildner, and are well worthy an extended
visit. The first cave is some three hundred feet long, and varies in height
from ten to eighty or ninety feet. The second cave has about the same
length, but is much higher and contains a far more diversified collection
of stalactites, stalagmites and sheets of calcareous deposits, that hang
like curtains before the more solid side walls. While appearing in the
red-wall limestone, the rock of these caves is all of a creamy white, thus
demonstrating that the formation itself is white, but that the exposed
walls are stained by the red washed over them from the strata above.
Copper Mine. The mine is equally interesting, and to those who have never
seen the operations of tunneling, stouping, driving shafts, winzes and the
like, and the removal of the ore, it is an experience well worth while. (At
this writing the mine is temporarily closed.)
A Fine Trip. From the Horseshoe Mesa, one may descend to the Lower Plateau
on horseback, and then to the river on foot. Those who wish a more extended
trip should ride from the camp, across the old Hance and Mineral Canyons
into Red Canyon, stay over night at the river, at the foot of the Red
Canyon Trail, and then return up the latter trail to the hotel. The trail
is fairly good, and the three different side canyons traversed reveal a
wonderful variety of rock scenery.
To Hance Canyon. To take this trip, the trail passes the mine, eastward,
down a steep break in the red-wall limestone, zigzagging back and forth.
Passing under overhanging cliffs, it leads down until the plateau is
reached, where twenty years ago I saw bands of mountain sheep. From this
plateau, the descent is steep into Hance Canyon, and the student of the
dynamic forces of nature can here see (when about half-way down) a
wonderful example of the shattering of the earth's crust. Here the immense
mass of the "red-wall" has been shaken up, and is now rapidly
disintegrating, to be washed down by the storms of succeeding years into
the great river which will ultimately deposit it in the Gulf of California.
By and by Vishnu Temple, the grandest of the rocky structures, comes into
sight, and a little further on one can see, at the base of Vishnu, and
above the granite, the red tilted strata of the Algonkian.
The descent into Hance Canyon reveals a fine view of Ayer Peak, and as we
look down we can see the peculiar shattering of the Tonto sandstones that
Thomas Moran named the Temple of Set. It takes but a few minutes to ride or
walk down to the temple, which is one of the distinctive features of the
Hance Trail, down which most of the early visitors to the Canyon used to
come.
Angel Gate. The ascent is now made on the eastern side of Hance Canyon, to
the summit of the Tonto sandstones, and from this point a fine view of
Angel Gate is to be had, its rich reds contrasting agreeably with the grays
and olives of the Tonto series.
Mineral and Red Canyons. On the plateaus separating Hance Canyon from
Mineral Canyon, and the latter from Red Canyon, one can see the rare
Algonkian strata to fine advantage. Numerous faultings and flexurings may
be observed, and on the last mile before reaching the foot of Red Canyon,
the trail leads through a great boulder bed along the brink of the gorge
immediately overhanging the river. Camp is made here at night.
The return ride up the Red Canyon Trail is made enjoyable by the brilliant
colorings, the faultings and nonconformities of the strata, which are
apparent even to the most undiscerning layman. Here the conglomerate
appears above the blue limestone, while ordinarily it is found below it.
The Algonkian also is largely in evidence. Across the river one may see the
location of the asbestos deposits.
Moran Point. Grand View Point and the points east are all reached from the
Grand View Hotel. The first of these is Moran Point, seven thousand one
hundred and fifty-seven feet elevation, five miles east. The trip may be
made in a vehicle, over a road from which the Canyon is not visible until
the point is reached; or in the saddle, over a trail, the last two miles of
which are along the rim. This is a unique trail, from the fact that it
overlooks Hance Creek, and further along, gives commanding outlooks down
Red Canyon.
Zuni Point. From Zuni Point, two miles further east, a still more extensive
view is obtained. The trip to these two points may be made in half a day,
but many prefer to give a full day.
Navaho Point and Desert View. Ten miles from Grand View is Navaho Point,
over seven thousand feet elevation. The ride thither, after leaving Zuni
Point, is through the Coconino Forest, without a trail. It is necessarily a
saddle trip. The outlook is especially attractive, as it presents portions
of the Painted Desert and the mouth of Marble Canyon.
Comanche Point, seven thousand and seventy-nine feet, and Cape Solitude,
six thousand one hundred and fifty-seven feet, are respectively about
seventeen and twenty miles east of Grand View, and may be visited in the
saddle during a camping-out trip of two days. They both command views of
the amphitheatre where the Colorado River makes an almost right angle curve
from Marble Canyon into the Granite Gorge. The walls are precipitous to
three thousand five hundred feet below, and the outlook afforded is about
seventy miles in either direction, up and down the Canyon. In addition to
the Canyon outlook, Cape Solitude, which might well be called Desert View,
commands a fine expanse of the Painted Desert, extending a hundred miles in
either direction, the colorings of which are especially dazzling at sunset.
The Little Colorado River flows through this desert, one thousand five
hundred feet below Cape Solitude, in a gorge of about two thousand five
hundred feet in depth. From the narrow canyon of the Little Colorado, the
desert rises to the east in three successive, gigantic steps of about one
thousand feet each. This affords a panorama of glorious colorings at
sunset, while the view in the opposite direction glows best in the early
hours of dawn.
To those who wish to camp out, sleeping in the open for two or more nights,
the trip may be extended to the Canyon of the Little Colorado. In this
excursion, one gets a fine breath of the desert, a sight of the narrow and
boxed-in Little Colorado Canyon, and extended desert views, passing by
Cedar Mountain, one of the few spots where fragments of the almost vanished
strata of the Permian age are still visible.
Tuba City and Moenkopi. Tuba City, sixty miles east of Grand View Hotel (a
four days' saddle and camping-out trip), is situated in the Painted Desert,
and is the headquarters of the Navaho Indians of this locality. Here also
is located the United States Government Indian School, where the children
of several tribes are being civilized. Two miles away is Moenkopi, a Hopi
village, or pueblo, of some thirty homes, where this pastoral and
home-loving people may be found engaged in their quiet agricultural
pursuits, the women also busy at basket-making and the fashioning of
pottery. At Tuba City there are many Navahos living in their hogans, where
the rude silversmiths are at work creating their "arts and crafts" ware,
and the looms of the blanket-weavers are incessantly busy.
Crater Mountain. Crater Mountain, thirty-nine miles south of Grand View
Hotel, is an extinct volcano with one side eroded, leaving a sheer wall
five hundred feet high in circular form, with a variety of pillars standing
high above the bottom of the amphitheatre. Its red, yellow and black colors
combine in a peculiar harmony, and novel effects are witnessed at sunset,
or by moonlight. To enjoy this trip aright, one should drive there, and
arrange to sleep in the amphitheatre, returning on the following day.
Extinct Volcanoes. Or, if a more extended trip is desired, one can drive on
to the many cinder cones and extinct volcanoes that lie to the north and
east of the San Francisco Mountains, including Sunset Crater and O'Leary
Peak, and then into Flagstaff.