A Picturesque Shelter House Is To Be Constructed At The End Of The Road,
Which Is Near The Head Of Hermit Trail, Where Visitors Driving On The Rim
Road May Rest Before Returning To El Tovar Or Before Starting Down The
Trail.
On the return journey the scene is entirely different, owing to the magic
of the sun's shadows, which have
Changed the aspect of every wall and chasm
and temple - whether in the gorge below, or across the river and up the side
canyons to the Kaibab Plateau on the north rim, and from October to May,
during the shorter days, if the return is made late in the afternoon a stop
will be made at Hopi Point, one of the best points on the south rim from
which to watch the glories of the setting sun.
A chapter describing the Hermit Rim Road and Hermit Trail will be found in
this book, but from no description can one comprehend the magnitude and the
silent grandeur of the Canyon as they are impressed upon the senses from
this highway and from this trail.
A Morning Trip - To Yavapai Point. Though Yavapai Point is but three miles
away, the drive and the time required for sightseeing occupy about two
hours. Leaving El Tovar, the road plunges among the trees at once on
passing the railway. Here are pines, pinions and junipers, with a
sprinkling of scrub oaks, and the flowering bush with white flowers and
long velvety tendrils locally known as the cinchona. Here and there a yucca
baccata thrusts out its bayonets from the ground, as if in warning, and a
score or more of flowers give variety of color to the greens of the trees,
in due season.
Outlook from Yavapai Point. Arrived at Yavapai Point, the river can be
clearly seen at two different places; before us, directly across the
Canyon, is the Bright Angel Gorge, with a full view of Zoroaster, Brahma
and Deva Temples. To the right, the nearest promontory is Yaki Point. Below
the point, its continuation terminates in a butte of great massiveness,
which has been named O'Neill Butte, after the Arizona pioneer who was slain
during the charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill. Beyond Yaki Point,
in the far-away east, two other great promontories arrest the attention.
These are way beyond Grand View and the old Hance Trails, and are Pinal and
Lipan Points, leading the eye to a "wavy" wall, slightly to their left.
This wall, topped with a series of curves, is the western wall of the
Little Colorado River; and the smoother wall beyond, to the left, is the
further or eastern wall. Here this tributary river and canyon connect with
the Grand Canyon, from a general southeasterly course. It will be recalled
that transcontinental travelers cross the Little Colorado River at Winslow.
From that point it flows in a northwesterly direction, through the sands of
the Painted Desert, its banks bearing many and large cottonwood trees.
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