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.
