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.
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