The Grand Canyon... WOWSERS

We have visited this indescribable place quite a few times during our married life and the vast vistas never cease to amaze.




As I marveled at the view, what kept impressing me was the fact that 17 years ago Steve and I DID the Grand Canyon. This was pre-blog yet Steve made a cool short video capturing it all if you'd like to experience it, too (link here). We hiked from the South Rim down the South Kaibab Trail and up the Bright Angel Trail after a two night stay at the hospitable Phantom Ranch. This particular hiking plan is a premier, strenuous 15–18 mile Grand Canyon day hike (or multi-day trip) typically completed in 8–12 hours. This route offers the best of both worlds: the panoramic, ridge-line views of the South Kaibab for the descent and the shaded, water-supplied, less steep ascent of the Bright Angel. I still feel a great sense of accomplishment for this one and done.



A first for us was a visit to the Yavapai Geology Museum, perched right on the very edge of the canyon rim. This historic building offered one of the best vantage points for an overview of Grand Canyon geology. Annotated displays at the base of the panoramic windows showed us where to look to see each group of rocks. We were able to walk between rock column models of the North and South Rims to try to learn the names of the various rock layers, while we discovered information about the geologic history recorded in the rocks, and visualized the carving of the modern landscape. The mini geologists in our group loved it.



This was the first time meeting Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the chief architectural designer and interior decorator for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948. Her creative free-form buildings at the Grand Canyon took direct inspiration from the landscape and served as part of the basis of the developing artistic aesthetic for appropriate development in areas that became national parks.

She designed eight unique Grand Canyon Buildings. (All are still in use today). Hopi House, Hermit's Rest, Lookout Studio, Phantom Ranch, Desert View Watchtower, Bright Angel Lodge, and the two Fred Harvey employee dormitories, Colter Hall and Victor Hall. How did I not know of this prolific talented woman?
We ended our Canyon explore at Mary's Hermit's Rest (1914). The building, originally constructed as a rest stop for the short stage line that ran from El Tovar Lodge to this location, is a stone building placed several feet back from the rim edge, and is tucked into a small man-made earthen mound, built around and atop the building to blend it in with its setting.
Hermit's Rest was designed to resemble a dwelling constructed by an untrained mountain man using the natural timber and boulders of the area. From the entrance path a haphazard looking structure of stone and wood greets the visitor, and the approach to Hermit's Rest is marked by a small stone arch set in a stone wall along the original pathway from the parking area to the building. The exposed portions of the building that are not banked into the earth are of rubble masonry bonded with cement mortar, structural logs, and a few expanses of glass. The chimneys are gently battered rubble masonry. The stone arch is topped with a broken bell that Colter acquired from a Spanish mission in New Mexico.

On the south end of the room is an enormous alcove, shaped like a semi-dome. The stone alcove contains an arched fireplace decorated with ornate andirons, a brass tea kettle, and various antique kitchen and fireplace tools. Wrought-iron wall sconces holding candles flank the far edges of the alcove. The alcove's flagstone floor is stepped up above that of the remainder of the room, giving added architectural emphasis to the space. I so could have stayed here for hours. What a wonderful place.
We covered 10,544 steps which is pretty impressive with a 4 and 6 year old! We promised to return to the place John Muir called "the grandest of all special temples".

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