One May Go By Regular Stages Or By Private Conveyance From
El Tovar To Grand View.
The distance to the hotel is fourteen miles.
The
drive is through the glens and winding roads of the Coconino Forest, with
junipers, pines, sage-brush, atriplex and the beautifully flowered Cowania
Mexicana, or mountain mahogany, commonly known as the quinine tree,
abounding on every hand. Though comparatively close to the Canyon, one
seldom catches a glimpse of it, for the country slopes away from the rim.
The ride is through a thickly forested region of giant pines.
Varieties of Flowers and Shrubs. During the season of flowers one will be
surprised at the great diversity presented. There are varieties of
artemisia or sage-brush, antennaria, columbine, the barberry, spiraea,
Russian thistle, eriophyllous, chrysothamnus, plantago, dandelions,
lepidium, chaenactic, linum, hosackia, cirsium, astragulus, ambrosia,
euphorbia, pleustemon, achillea millefolium, erodium, or stork's bill,
orthocarpous, vilia, solidago, lactuca, helianthus, erigeron, brickellia,
malvastrum, ptelea or a desert hop-tree, polygonum, sphedra, lupines,
castilleia, lathyrus, verbena and a score of others. I merely name those I
saw on one day's drive to and from Grand View, so that the botanist,
amateur or professional, may know the rich treat there is in store for him.
For, under the peculiar climatic conditions here, many of these more common
plants present singular variations.
When about half the distance is passed, the road enters Long Jim Canyon, so
named after a well-known sheepherder of the early days who used to wander
here with his sheep.
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.
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