Flagstaff, AZ to the Grand Canyon (Hwy 180 to Hwy 64)
Leaving Flagstaff, Hwy 180 skirts around the western base of the San Francisco Peaks, traversing through thick pine forests before lowering down to the juniper and grass of the Colorado Plateau. Generally people think that the Grand Canyon is in the desert but it’s not, instead slicing across the semi-arid Colorado Plateau just beyond Red Butte, below right.
The modern day history of the Grand Canyon began in 1540 when a small off-shoot of Spanish explorer Coronado’s search for the fabled (and non-existent) Seven Cities of Cibola wandered into northern Arizona and were the first Europeans to see the canyon. American exploration of the area picked up after the end of the Mexican-American War and in 1857 a US Army survey party came to the area and left “un-impressed” with the economic potential of the canyon area. John Wesley Powell led the first party to actually float the gorge in 1869 and he is the one to whom the name “Grand Canyon” is attributed. Prospectors staked claims in the canyon in the late 1800’s, having discovered deposits of asbestos, copper and lead but the difficulty in getting ore out of the canyon made economic viability of the mines impossible. Some stayed and began exploiting the possibilities of tourism along the canyon rim. The railroad reached Flagstaff to the south in 1882 and tourists began to visit the Grand Canyon via stagecoach. A small settlement grew on the edge and one of the early tourism pioneers, Buckey O’Neill, built cabins and operated a small hotel in 1895. One of those cabins continues to be used near Bright Angel Trail.
A spur of the Santa Fe Railroad was built north from Williams to the village in 1901 (tickets cost $3.95) and a paved road was completed along the South Rim in 1926. The rest is history…
Our tour of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is going to run east to west from the Visitor Center, which is roughly in the center of the park. Hwy 64 leads to the park and I scored some hard to get campground reservations for two nights in the park. One can no longer drive along Rim Drive except during the winter months due to the pressure from the number of visitors. You either try to park in one of the large parking lots around the visitor center (which were already full at 11am on a Tuesday in April – imagine what’s it like during the summer!) or a better option, book a room at one of the many properties at the village or in the little town of Tsuyan outside the main entrance and then ride the free shuttle system.
The shuttle system is very effective. The shuttles run along the canyon rim every 15 minutes, stopping at all of the significant places within the park. The shuttle above is the one that I rode from my camp ground to the Visitor Center, which is at the eastern end of the developed area of the park. The Visitor’s Center itself is not particularly significant nor historic, but it sits at the end of Mather Point, the first of many unbelievable viewpoints on the rim.
Mather Point
The woman in this picture is standing at the edge of the canyon near the path to Mather Point. The ground is representative of the south rim, dry and rocky with the ever present juniper trees growing right to the edge.
Mather Point juts out into the canyon on a narrow finger of ivory stone. The views to the east (left) and west (right) is stunning (the first of many times I will use this word.)
I jump on a shuttle and head west about two miles to the Village, the historic center of the park.
Grand Canyon Village
A number of hotels cluster along the rim next to the train station, which sits in a slight depression below the rim. The train depot, built in 1910, is still used by the tourist train that commutes back and forth to Williams, 65 miles to the south.
Between the train depot and the canyon, nestled in the trees, lies the “people” center of the park. Above all looms the turret of the grand hotel of the park, El Tovar.
I walk up the rise and start my exploration of the village with El Tovar, the luxury hotel built in 1905 by the Santa Fe Railroad Company (interestingly enough, with timbers from Oregon as they were larger than the local Ponderosa Pine from the Flagstaff area.) Charles Whittlesey designed the hotel in the arts and crafts style popular at the time.
The hexagonal lobby area is not large, but has a number of small shops and dining venues along the perimeter. The back side of the hotel faces one of the many side canyons, offering great views from the guest rooms.
The view from the covered porch of El Tovar looks down into the canyon and Bright Angel Trail.
Across a central plaza is the Hopi House, also opened in 1905 as a venue to showcase local native artisans and their crafts to the tourists, a function that it continues to fulfill today.
Capitalizing on the increase in the tourist trade, John Verkamp built a small store in 1905 just east of the Hopi House catering to the tourist trade. His family lived in the second floor apartment for years, enjoying the view from the front steps. Verkamp managed the store until 1944. His family operated the store until 2008 when they sold it to the National Park Service.
The Rim Trail runs along of the canyon and turning west, I look along the developed part of the rim towards Lookout Point, the small tower in the far right.
Grand Canyon National Park wasn’t created until 1919. Pre-existing private property was included in the park but individuals retained their rights to pre-existing buildings and mining claims. Walking west I pass a small but historic spot. Here, in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps built the first telephone line across the Grand Canyon to the North Rim. Clinging to the steep canyon walls, the workers hammered 592 steel poles into the rock down the canyon walls to the river and up the other side and hung 18 miles of wire, completing the task in 1935. Here, just past the El Tovar, is one of the first telephone poles hidden in the brush.
All the while the views open up on my right.
To my left are Bright Angel Lodge (1935) and the Thunderbird Lodge (1960’s).
Continuing past the lodging area on the Rim Trail the views continue on the right.
The next building clinging to the edge of the canyon is the Kolb Studio. The Kolb brothers were pioneering photographers and in 1904 they built a studio on the edge of the canyon. Several additions were built over the years and it is now a bookstore and art gallery. It’s difficult to get a picture of the building because most of it is over the cliff!
When the Kolb Studio was built it was the furthest point west on the canyon wall catering tourists. The Fred Harvey Company, tourism arm of the Santa Fe Railroad, decided to beat the competition and in 1914 built Lookout Point further west. The building, designed by the same architect as El Tovar, seems to grow out of the cliff.
Lookout Point is the last building on the Rim Trail in the village and just beyond it the Bright Angel Trail begins its’ descent to the canyon floor. The Bright Angel Trail has been the main path from the canyon rim to the Colorado River four thousand feet below since pre-historic times. The trail is eight miles long and the beginning can be seen from Lookout Point.
Zooming in, you can see the hardy tourists on the trail (that would NOT be me!)
Standing on the terrace of Lookout Point I turn to my right and get a view of the El Tovar area to the east.
I return back to a shuttle bus stop by Bright Angel Lodge and catch the shuttle to Hermit’s Rest, eight miles to the west where the road ends. The bus stops at a number of viewpoints along the way, allowing me to get off and walk a bit between some that are close together and then jump on the bus to those that are farther apart. It is a great little system.
Maricopa Point
Spectacular views unfold to the west and east.
The actual Colorado River is hard to see from the canyon rim as it flows through a “canyon in a canyon” at the bottom of the gorge. A rare glimpse of the river can be seen from Maricopa Point.
Looking east from Maricopa Point towards the next point to the west, Powell Point, I am amazed to see the remains of a mine. It turns out that from 1956 to 1969 tons of high grade uranium were mined from a claim first held by Dan Hogan in 1891 when he found copper. It was too difficult to mine so he quickly turned to tourism for his livelihood, but uranium was found on the claim in 1951 and the mine soon followed. Here is a picture from 1978 that 
Today the view from Maricopa Point shows the reclamation effort in progress. Surface structures are gone but the base is still visible against the canyon rim.
I walk the eight-tenths of a mile from Maricopa Point to the next viewpoint, Powell Point.
Powell Point
Powell Point memorializes John Wesley Powell, who led the first and second expeditions to float the Colorado through the canyon (1869, 1871). Again, views unfold to the west and the east.
I continue walking along the Rim Trail to my next viewpoint, Hopi Point. Here a brief glimpse of the river can be seen to the east.
The trail is not as developed here so there is no paved walkway and no guard rail. I “carefully” take a picture looking down to the canyon floor four thousand feet below…
Because the force of the river current is so strong the Colorado River cuts its’ canyon quicker and deeper than the side canyons, which depend upon erosion from the rare rain and snow of the plateau climate to deepen. This accounts for the “canyon within the canyon effect. The canyon majestically unfolds to the east.
I hop on the shuttle bus and ride for a couple of miles to Pima Point, where good views of the river can be seen.
Pima Point
I get on the shuttle and head for the last stop before the return trip, Hermit’s Rest. Hermit’s Rest was built by the Santa Fe in 1912 to compete for tourists with the Bright Angel Trail, which was controlled by a competitor at the time. Visitors got off at the hut at Hermit’s Rest and then road mules down the 7.5 mile trail to a camp on the canyon floor. Today Hermit’s Rest is the departure point for hikers exploring the park.
Hermit’s Rest is a small rock structure built into the side of the canyon. An enormous fireplace takes up half of the building. Remember, this was not a place to stay but just a resting spot as the groups getting ready to descend to the canyon floor.
Here’s a picture from 1922 showing tourists standing in the same spot.
A view down towards the river shows where the tourist camp was located.
I walk back towards the shuttle stop with one last look at the canyon to the west.
Jumping on the shuttle bus I return to the village and get one last shot of the great shuttle system.
This wraps up my visit to the most populated portion of the park. The eastern third is not served by the shuttle system and most people who come to the Grand Canyon don’t even go there, but we will!
Next up: The eastern section of Grand Canyon National Park
Post a Comment