Once you arrive in the Grand Canyon, please don't just take one trip to the Visitor's Center, look over the edge and say "okay, I've seen it ... let's go"!!!! I've actually heard that ... and it's sad that they never truly see what's so Grand. There are trails of one kind or another along miles and miles of the South Rim. I rode my bicycle (not allowed everywhere ... ) from Trailer Park to Mather Point, then east to the Kaibab Trailhead. Some up, some down, all gorgeous. Today however, I chose to walk from Mather Point, heading west all the way to the Bright Angel Trailhead, about 5 miles round trip ... give or take a mile or so. It's all downhill, so you can't go wrong. When you get to the Trailhead, you can take the shuttle bus back to the RV park. This is Mather Point. Beautiful flowers are everywhere!!
There are so many trees along this entire route that I couldn't help but take picture after picture.
On down the trail a ways is Yavapai Point Geology Museum, which doesn't interest me much ... but the relief map inside does. Did you know each mountain in the canyon has a name?? Like Isis, Buddha Temple and too many more to name. The Trail of Time starts below here ... walking you back through millions of years of history, with examples of each type of rock you can see in the canyon. Nice benches are placed often for resting should you need it.
This little guy posed for me while on the walk. Sorry, he didn't tell me his name.
Still heading west and looking across the canyon, you can see The Lookout ... designed by Mary Colter, as was the Desert View Watchtower, Hermits Rest and the Bright Angel Lodge. Blends in pretty good ... and yes, it hangs out to the very edge of the canyon. Can you see it??
Kolb Studio is of course most interesting to me. The Kolb Brothers, Emery and Ellsworth, were the first photographers to film their trip down the Grand Canyon in the early 1900's, as well as everyone who went down the Bright Angel Toll Road. This is their original house, built over many years, barely hanging on to the edge. Emery and his wife Blanche and his daughter Edith lived here.
Later enlarged by adding a small theatre room to show their movies, as well as other improvements, it was occupied by the family until the 60-70's, when the Park Service took over. It houses a souvenir shop now but has art shows in the theatre.
The Bright Angel Trailhead is just to the left of the above building. That's far enough for today, so I headed back to Trailer Village along a paved walkway, maybe a mile or so. Like I said, never go without your camera, because you are going to see something you've never seen before .. like this buck marking his territory. He crossed the path right in front of me, heading for several doe just up the hill. It was then that both he and I noticed the even bigger buck!!! He decided to let everyone know these girls were his!!! He almost caused an accident as 4 cars came to a screeching halt on the road.
Flowers, flowers everywhere ... and these beauties are prolific. With the recent rains, they are growing like weeds ...
Having heard about a dump site from the Old Grandview Hotel, I headed that way. An old miner built the hotel when his mines quit producing ... it was one of, if not THE first hotel here. Camera in hand, I traipsed cross country, zig-zagging back and forth from the edge of the canyon to the main highway to see if I could find any clues. Might just find a treasure!!! Zilch ... nada!! Didn't find anything :( But the wildflowers and views were pretty nice.
Heading down a huge gully and up the other side, I found my way down to a rock ledge, looking back at Grandview Point. The hotel was torn down when the railroad came in and built El Tovar Lodge, replaced by a parking lot for visitors.
While standing on this rock, I felt like I was being watched ... gee, did I look that bad?????
Alas, after wondering around the forest for hours, I found no road or anything resembling a road, no cans, no dump. Might be fun to bring a metal detector next time though!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment