The Grand Canyon of Arizona: How to See It Part 2

The Mallery Grotto. This is a small and rather insignificant cave just under the rim, to the extreme left (west) of El Tovar amphitheatre, wherein a number of interesting Indian pictographs are to be seen. The overhanging rock makes a rude cave or grotto, and it has been named Mallery Grotto, after Garrick Mallery, the great authority on the pictographs of the North American Indians. His latest monograph takes up the whole of one of the large volumes of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, and in its nearly eight hundred pages there are one thousand two hundred and ninety ill.u.s.trations. To this illuminating book, therefore, the curious student is referred for further information regarding the pictographs themselves.

Trail to Mallery Grotto. Leaving El Tovar, the visitor can easily walk to and from Mallery Grotto in half an hour: Keeping on the rim, he pa.s.ses the old Bright Angel Hotel, and all the buildings, about as far past the log house as, that is from El Tovar. There, in a slight depression, he will see the foot-trail leading down from the rim to the Grotto. It is a place about forty to fifty feet long, and with an overhanging wall of from five to fifteen feet high, and ten to twenty feet broad. The shelf upon which one walks is narrow, but I have slept there many a time in cold and rainy weather.

The pictographs are mainly in a rich brownish-red, and are of deer, mountain-sheep, men and women, serpentine lines suggesting the course of rivers, rain-clouds, lightning, and many-legged reptiles,--or what seem to represent these things. They were here, exactly as one now sees them, when I first camped here with some friendly Havasupais, nearly twenty years ago, and I was then informed that some of the designs represent great hunts, in which their ancestors had been successful.

Of the genuineness of the pictographs no one need have the slightest question. They afford a good opportunity to those who have never before seen such specimens of aboriginal art, to examine a fairly representative lot of them.

CHAPTER IV. The Grand Canyon At El Tovar

If guests at the Canyon will take this book in hand and, line by line, read this chapter, just as they would listen to the talk of a friend in whose knowledge they confide, they will leave the Canyon with fewer erroneous conceptions than are quite common now.

El Tovar Amphitheatre. The first thing to be observed is that El Tovar rests in the centre of the curve of a wide crescent, named El Tovar amphitheatre, the arms of which extend out into the heart of the Canyon, and shut in the scenery from the east and west, concentrating the view.

These arms afford an excellent opportunity for seeing the various carboniferous deposits. The topmost is the cherty limestone, the layers of which lead the eye to the crossbedded sandstone, a creamy buff in color, and composed of a soft, sugary sand. Each of these walls is from five hundred to six hundred feet high, though in some parts of the Canyon they are reduced to not more than four hundred feet.

Maricopa and El Tovar Points. El Tovar is six thousand eight hundred and sixty-six feet above sea level; the highest part of the point on the left is seven thousand and fifty feet, and on the right seven thousand feet. The point to the left, Maricopa Point, is a portion of the great promontory known as Hopi Point, to which all Canyon visitors should go. That to the right is El Tovar Point.

Heights and Depths. The height of the lime and sandstone walls can readily be measured by looking down upon the rudely carved ma.s.s of red sandstone slightly to the left, which has been called the "Battles.h.i.+p." The top of this is five thousand, eight hundred and sixty-seven feet above sea level.

Now look up to the Maricopa Point above, seven thousand and fifty feet. The difference is one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three feet, which is practically the height of these two strata.

Bright Angel Creek. Almost at the first glance, the attention is arrested by the break in the north wall, slightly to the right of where we stand, which makes a wide lateral gorge running at right angles to the main course of the river. This is Bright Angel Gorge, showing the course of Bright Angel Creek, which flows between its lower walls. It received its name from Major Powell, when he and his party descended the river. Earlier in their explorations they had ascended a side stream, and one of the men had declared it to be a dirty devil of a river; and for many years it bore the name "Dirty Devil River," until Powell changed it on the map to Fremont River. When, later, this exquisitely pure and beautiful side stream was reached, the great explorer determined that as one stream had been named after the prince of the powers of darkness, he would name this after the bright and beautiful powers,--hence the name "Bright Angel."

A reference to the chapter "How the Canyon was Formed," will explain how this side gorge came into existence, and also account for the great upthrust of the granitic rock at its mouth, for the most casual observer cannot fail to note the presence of this rock much higher than it is seen elsewhere.

The North Wall. Before paying particular attention to the vast forms that crowd the interior of the Canyon, let us follow the "build" of the ma.s.sive wall on the north side. This is part of the great Kaibab Plateau, the highest wall of the whole Canyon system. Its elevation is eight thousand three hundred, as against six thousand eight hundred and sixty-six feet at El Tovar, and it is thirteen miles in an air line from the south rim, where the hotel is located, to the north rim.

The reason for this difference in elevation is explained in the chapter "How the Canyon was Formed." In brief, it is that, during a process of "

faulting," the north wall was thrust up above the level of the south wall.

Features above Bright Angel Creek. In any other region but here, this Bright Angel Gorge and the ma.s.sive figures of rock that sentinel and guard it would be regarded as a scenic marvel, but here it is a mere trivial incident in the greater scenery of the greater Canyon. Yet it is well to note the ma.s.sive red sandstone points that are lined up on either side on the plateau, above the darkest recesses of the gorge, reminding one of the rows of sphinxes that guard the entrances of some of the Egyptian temples.

Up Bright Angel Creek. Occasionally parties cross the river (either by boat or in an iron cage suspended by a cable), and ascend to the north rim by means of a rude trail up Bright Angel Creek. As the trail for a part of the way ascends the floor of the gorge, down which the stream flows, and as it is exceedingly narrow and without any way of escape in case of severe rain or flood, it is not always safe. To one, however, who loves a rough and adventurous trip, the ascent of this gorge will probably give great satisfaction. A little more than a third of the way up, a waterfall is pa.s.sed, called "Ribbon Falls." The trail winds and twists with the course of the stream, and finally reaches the summit at an elevation of eight thousand five hundred feet, not far from Greenland Spring. From here one may go east over the Walhalla Plateau to Niji Point, and overlook the Chuar Valley at the mouth of Marble Canyon, where Dr. Walcott spent a winter studying the Algonkian strata of that region. To the west is Point Sublime, Powell Plateau, and other scenery of an unusually majestic character.

Features of the North Wall. But let us now return to the main north wall before us. The green tufts, that at this distance appear as gra.s.s or shrubs, partially covering the top of the wall and descending the slopes into the Canyon, are in reality great trees, mainly pines and black birches, from twenty-five to over one hundred and one hundred and fifty feet in height. The forest that covers the Kaibab Plateau contains many majestic trees, and some of these have wandered over the rim to peep into the depths of the abyss below. The cherty limestone strata are thus largely covered, but the next stratum is the clear band of cross-bedded sandstone, which corresponds to the second member of the geological series seen in the arm of the amphitheatre at Maricopa Point, and is from five hundred to six hundred feet wide.

Then the eye rests upon slopes of talus, which reach down to the red strata of varying thicknesses, which are deposited above the red-wall limestone, the widest member of the whole Canyon group. These walls are cut and recessed into all kinds of shapes and forms, angles, promontories and recesses, which, especially in the early morning and late afternoon, cast shadows of inexpressible beauty.

The Red-Wall Limestone. We now come to the red-wall limestone nearly six hundred feet in thickness. What a striking, ma.s.sive wall it is, and how impressive, when seen even at this immense distance. This wall is red only because it is stained by the color washed down by the rain from the red strata above. In reality, it is a rich creamy lime, but only where the red strata above have been degraded and washed away does the natural color of this wall appear.

The Plateau. Below the red-wall limestone, there are several strata of red and gray and olive rocks that slope to the plateau. This plateau is not quite so wide on the north side as on the south, owing to El Tovar being located in the recess of a great amphitheatre. It is from these plateaus that the finest views of the real Canyon can be obtained. The visitor, sitting on the porch or on the rim at El Tovar, cannot realize that below his feet, as it were, there is an almost exact duplication of the wall and slopes of talus, the thrilling precipices, the alcoves, recesses, promontories and the like, that he sees on the north side. And yet a trip down the trail on to the plateaus reveals these stupendous facts in a manner that is surprising even to those who, for years, have been familiar with them. How much more, then, is such an experience to a tyro. I have met men who were world-wide travelers, and who were visiting the Canyon for the first time; some of these were expert geologists, yet they refused to go down the trail, with the excuse that they could fully grasp the scenery from the rim. But that is impossible. The human mind cannot realize the effects of vastness and power this Canyon scenery produces, except when one stands below the cliffs and looks up. And where the opportunity is given of looking both up to towering walls, and down over beetling precipices, the effect is enhanced.

The Tonto Sandstones. Below the plateau, slight slopes lead the eye to the last of the stratified rocks, the Tonto sandstones of the Cambrian period.

These are readily distinguished, mainly by their deep buff color and the fact that generally they are found resting on the archaean or unstratified rocks, locally though incorrectly termed the granite, which makes the Inner Gorge through which the river runs. This "granite" is in the main a blackish gneiss.

The Algonkian Strata. Though the Tonto sandstones usually occupy the location named, there is a deviation from this in the presence of some remnants of strata of the Algonkian period, directly opposite El Tovar.

This deviation is discussed in the chapter "How the Canyon was Formed."

These remarkable rocks occur to the left (west) of Bright Angel Creek, and lie immediately above the gneiss. Their brilliant red reveals them, and they can be followed up under the base of the Cheops and to a small wash to the left of Osiris. At the mouth of Bright Angel, they rest upon the archaean, with the Tonto sandstones above them, but just in front of the Battles.h.i.+p a break in the gneiss occurs, and on the portion nearest us the Algonkian strata totally disappear, for the Tonto strata rest directly upon the gneiss.

Zoroaster, Brahma and Deva Temples. Now, in turn, let the eye rest upon the temples, towers and b.u.t.tes that stand in the heart of the Canyon, more or less detached from the main wall. To the right of Bright Angel Creek, striking b.u.t.tes keep guard. The nearest is an angular ma.s.s of solid, unrelieved rock, sloping in a peculiarly oblique fas.h.i.+on. It is Zoroaster Temple, seven thousand one hundred and thirty-six feet in elevation. Close behind it is a more ornate and dignified ma.s.s, Brahma Temple, named after the first of the Hindoo triad, the supreme creator, to correspond with the s.h.i.+va Temple, soon to be described, on the right. s.h.i.+va, the destroyer; Brahma, the creator. The one controlling the forces that have destroyed the strata; the other dominating the powers that have brought these structures into existence. Brahma is seven thousand five hundred and fifty-four feet in elevation. Behind Brahma is another b.u.t.te, which, however, cannot always be dissevered from the main wall. It has no cap of cherty limestone. It can be readily discerned, therefore, by its flat-topped appearance. It is Deva Temple, seven thousand three hundred and forty-four feet above sea level.

Buddha Temple and Cloister; Manu Temple. To the left of the Bright Angel Gorge, quite an a.s.semblage of b.u.t.tes awaits inspection. The dominating pile almost opposite Brahma--across Bright Angel--is Buddha Temple, and below it is Buddha Cloister. Beyond this is another b.u.t.te, which, however, at times, can scarcely be detected from the main walls of the Kaibab. Yet it is a separate b.u.t.te of great proportions, and is named Manu Temple, after the great law-giver of the Hindoos. Buddha's elevation is seven thousand two hundred and eighteen feet, while Manu's is seven thousand one hundred and ninety-two.

Cheops Pyramid. To the left of Buddha Temple, and nearer to us, is a ma.s.sive though less ornately carved monument than Buddha. It is Cheops Pyramid, a detached ma.s.s of the red-wall limestone, which, however, is rapidly losing its red color, owing to the disappearance of the red strata from above. Cheops is five thousand three hundred and fifty feet in elevation, and is of a peculiar shape, as of some quaint and Oriental device of symbolic significance.

Isis and s.h.i.+va Temples. Just above, and farther to the left, is a peculiar temple, resting upon sloping taluses of the red strata beneath, its cap formed of alone, narrow ridge of cross-bedded sandstone. It has two great cloisters in front, and is named Isis Temple, after the feminine G.o.d of the Egyptians. Isis has an elevation of seven thousand twenty-eight feet, and is the eastern support of the gigantic rock mountain which towers over all the lesser structures. This is s.h.i.+va Temple, a solid ma.s.s, sliced off from the main Kaibab. The elevation is seven thousand six hundred and fifty feet, and it is thus described by Dutton, who named it: "It is the grandest of all the b.u.t.tes, and the most majestic in aspect, though not the most ornate. Its ma.s.s is as great as the mountainous part of Mount Was.h.i.+ngton. The summit looks down six thousand feet into the dark depths of the inner abyss, over a succession of ledges as impracticable as the face of Bunker Hill Monument. All around it are side gorges, sunk to a depth nearly as profound as that of the main channel. It stands in the midst of a great throng of cloister-like b.u.t.tes, with the same n.o.ble profiles and strong lineaments as those immediately before us, with a plexus of awful chasms between. In such a stupendous scene of wreck it seems as if the fabled 'Destroyer' might find an abode not wholly uncongenial."

Horus Temple. Guardian temples to the west of Isis are Horus and Osiris.

The former is nearer to the river. It is capped with the white sandstone, and is so closely sculptured that white fragments have fallen upon the sloping red talus beneath. The whole appearance is not unlike a giant hat of an Arab, with its streaming folds of white reaching far over the neck down the back. It rests upon a ma.s.sive block of the red-wall limestone, which presents a bold face to the east. Its elevation is six thousand one hundred and fifty feet.

Osiris Temple. Behind s.h.i.+va is Osiris Temple, with an elevation of six thousand six hundred and thirty-seven feet. At the proper angle it is seen to be as prominent before s.h.i.+va as is Horus, but our angle of vision gives it the retreating effect. It is a gracefully domed temple in the cross-bedded sandstone, and clearly reveals its five hundred feet superior height over Horus.

The walls seen behind Osiris are not those of Point Sublime, as some suppose. This ma.s.sive promontory on the north side is hidden by the nose of Maricopa Point. The walls are a portion of the Kaibab Plateau, leading towards Point Sublime, but not a part of it.

Ra Pyramid. In front of Horus is the tower of a symmetrically constructed pyramid in the red strata, far more like Cheops than is the structure of that name. It is five thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven feet above the level of the sea,--a memorial of the great Ra, far greater than any temple erected by human hands.

The Maiden's Breast. At the end of Maricopa Point is a majestic structure bigger than many national capitols combined, yet so small here as. .h.i.therto to have pa.s.sed unnoticed. It is crowned, however, with a small nipple in red sandstone, to which the Havasupais give a name signifying the Maiden's Breast. It is five thousand four hundred and fifty feet high,--quite a height for any earthly maiden.

Miles of Walls of Varying Lengths. As we look at these wonderful walls, a new idea dawns upon us. The engineer tells us that the Canyon is two hundred and seventeen miles long. That, however, is only the length of the river, as it runs its winding way along. But the walls cannot thus be measured. Take the red-wall limestone and follow it on its devious way, in and out of deeply alcoved recesses, up side gorges and down again, around the curves of cloisters and along the bases of the great b.u.t.tes. The aggregate distance followed will be many thousands of miles. The strata that have the longer course, on account of their greater extent of terracing, are those that make an eight-hundred-feet-wide band of gray and bright red sandstone, which rests above the red-wall limestone.

Angel Plateau and Indian Garden. Now let the eye fall upon the plateau beneath. This is named Angel Plateau. The green near its centre has the first claim. This green patch is called Indian Garden, for in past years, before the white man wrested his possessions from him, a certain family of the Havasupais used to farm in a crude way on this spot. When I first visited this plateau, some seventeen or more years ago, the remnants of the old Indian irrigating ditches could be seen. Now it is cultivated by the white man to good effect, and delicious watermelons and cantaloupe as well as tasty vegetables grow in abundance. This is called half-way down to the river in distance. The elevation is three thousand eight hundred and seventy-six feet, so that from our six thousand eight hundred and sixty-six feet we gaze down two thousand nine hundred and ninety feet. Many who go down the trail do not go below this plateau. A point can be seen, also the line of the trail leading to it, from which an excellent and extensive view of the raging river, with some of its rapids, may be had.

CHAPTER V. Three Ways Of Spending One Day At The Canyon

There are many who can take only a hasty trip to the Canyon. This is to be deplored, as the Grand Canyon is one of the sights that cannot be fully comprehended in a day; and yet, if one has but a day, to get merely one good long glimpse at it is worth all the effort and expense that it may cost, even to the least wealthy of its visitors. And while it cannot be too strongly urged that all who come prepare themselves to stay at least a week--a month is far better--I offer a few practical suggestions to those who have less time, and wish to use it to the fullest possible advantage.

Three Suggestions to the "One-Day" Visitor. To those who have but one full day, a choice is offered of three courses; first, and best of all, to drive to the head of Hermit Trail on the new Hermit Rim Road, and to visit Yavapai and Hopi Points; the second, to drive to Grand View; the third, to ride down Bright Angel Trail.

First Trip--An Afternoon on Hermit Rim Road to Head of Hermit Trail. To the less strenuous visitor who wishes to see all he can in one day without the fatigue of the trail trip, two courses are open, both of which include driving to prominent points on the rim and sightseeing in their vicinity.

One is to drive out on Hermit Rim Road, which drive will give a variety of scenery unequaled by any other trip to be made on the rim. This trip, giving panorama views to the west of El Tovar, can be made in one half of the day, let us say the afternoon, leaving the morning for a drive to Yavapai Point, which gives corresponding panoramas to the east, though Yavapai is only three miles from the Hotel.

It is nine miles west of El Tovar to the head of Hermit Trail on the new Hermit Rim Road, and about three and one-half hours are required for the trip in addition to whatever time is consumed in sightseeing at the various points on which stops are made.

The road pa.s.ses Maricopa, Hopi, Mohave and Pima Points, and some time is spent on each, as there is some special appeal in the b.u.t.tes and the cliffs and the depths as seen from each, but all along the route the gigantic panorama of Grand Canyon stretches for miles and miles--a world of beauty; all along the route the attention is claimed by some surprising feature,--the precipices of the opposite wall, the great interior rock temples, and side canyons, and everywhere the incomparable colors.

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 pa.s.sing 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 b.u.t.te of great ma.s.siveness, which has been named O'Neill b.u.t.te, 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.