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.
