Without this fault there would have been no trail,
for to the lifting up, or dropping down of the strata, is due their
shattered condition, which alone makes trail-building possible. When about
a mile down, the separation line between the cross-bedded sandstone and the
upper red sandstone is clearly revealed to the left of the trail.
By this time all timidity has vanished, and you implicitly trust both mule
and trail, even when going around that narrow ledge known as Cape Horn.
Now, immediately before us, the majestic pile known as the Battleship
presents itself with new power. The ship itself is composed of the red
sandstone. The base upon which it rests is the red-wall limestone.
A few feet further, and the cross-bedded sandstone may be seen far below on
the right, out of plumb with the same mass on the left, to which it
belongs, clearly showing that some convulsion of nature has either thrust
the mass on the left up, or forced the mass on the right down.
From this spot a fine view is had of the red-wall limestone below and the
Indian Garden; and, far below, at the end of Pipe Creek, the peculiar
folding of the Algonkian strata. This folding is also to be seen on the
other side of the river in the same rocks.
Trees, Flowers and Birds. While descending the first mile of trail, one
sees plenty of flowers and shrubs, and many Douglas spruces. These do not
exist on the rim, and, strange to say, the pines which abound there are
never found on the trail. One will generally hear the sweet descending
"pipe" of the canyon wren, and the harsh scolding of the blue-winged pinion
jay. Hawks, owls, mocking-birds and robins are often seen. Butterflies,
moths, and humming-birds wing their way to and fro and give a delicate
touch of life to the stern rocky features. Time was when the visitor at El
Tovar who went down the trail to the river might have seen mountain sheep,
bear, deer, antelopes and coyotes.
Jacob's Ladder. When the "blue lime" - the top of the red-wall limestone - is
reached, one may study a fine piece of real canyon trail-making, locally
called Jacob's Ladder. Here steps have been cut in the slippery and solid
rocks, in some places built up with timbers, and thus made perfectly safe.
It is customary for everybody to dismount here, so as to lighten the load.
The well-trained saddle mules of El Tovar stables go up and down this part
of the trail without hesitation.
Red-Wall Limestone. Standing on the summit of the red-wall limestone, we
are again forcefully reminded that it is the most prominent member of the
Grand Canyon strata. Its insistent mass is a thousand feet in thickness.
The face of this wall, close before us, is carved into numerous alcoves,
and as we near its base, we observe to the right a vast double-cornered
recess known as Angel Alcove. From here it is interesting to look up to the
rim and observe the peculiar and varied contour of the many pinnacles cut
by wind and storm out of the cherty limestone.
Buddha and Manu Temples. From this point, also, the first good view, from
below the rim, of Buddha Temple (seven thousand two hundred and eighteen
feet) is obtained. It is to the left of Bright Angel Creek. Now look
carefully at the ridge that leads the eye from Buddha Temple to Bright
Angel Creek. It appears to be a portion of the main wall of the Kaibab
Plateau. In reality it is three miles from the Kaibab wall, and, under
suitable conditions, may be seen as a massive temple, which has been named
Manu Temple (seven thousand one hundred and ninety-two feet), after the
great law-giver of the Hindoos.
Indian Garden and Cheops Pyramid. At the base of the red-wall limestone,
the trail opens up a little, and permits easier breathing by the tyro on
horseback; from now on to Indian Garden (three thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six feet) we ride in a boulder bed, where large blocks of rock of
every conceivable shape lie as they fell from the strata above. Small
shrubs and plants abound, and tiny lizards and inquisitive swifts dart to
and fro. Nearer to us is Cheops Pyramid (five thousand three hundred and
fifty feet), a massive monument, though less ornately carved than Buddha.
Isis and Shiva Temples. Above it and farther to the left, is Isis Temple
(seven thousand and twenty-eight feet), the cap of which, at this angle,
presents the appearance of two acorn-like structures resting upon their
cups, the taller of which is carved out of the cross-bedded sandstone. It
is the eastern supporter of Shiva Temple (seven thousand six hundred and
fifty feet), of which Captain Dutton, who named it, wrote eloquently and
vividly.
Brahma and Zoroaster Temples. Now turn the eye away from Shiva, across to
the east of Bright Angel Creek. There, outlined against the sky, are two
noble-profiled buttes. The rear one is Brahma Temple (seven thousand five
hundred and fifty-four feet), named after the first of the Hindoo triad,
the Supreme Creator. The smaller butte, an angular mass of solid,
unrelieved rock, sloping in a peculiarly oblique fashion, is Zoroaster
Temple (seven thousand one hundred and thirty feet), thus adding to the
Hindoo pantheon a fane for the founder of the religion of the
Irano-Persians.
Deva Temple, Obi, and Komo Points. Behind Brahma can be seen, when at the
right angle, a flat-topped detached mass (seven thousand three hundred and
forty-four feet) named Deva Temple. Behind and above it are two points, Obi
(eight thousand feet) to the right, and Komo, about the same height, to the
left.
