Grand Canyon

So Monday we went and got some groceries for the week, explored the visitor information centre in Flagstaff at the old train station. We then came back to the Condo and just relaxed the rest of the day. We did a lot over the last five days and decided to take the day off.

Tuesday we got up early had an egg McMuffin at MacDonalds and headed north to the Grand Canyon. We got the park at about 9:30 in the morning found a parking spot and headed to the visitor centre, unfortunately it was closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays because they don’t have enough staff. We will make sure to go back next week when it is open. We then went to the bus station, they have three routes that have hop on hop off shuttle buses that take you around the park. They all have bus stops all over the park that drop you off at campgrounds, hotels, view points, the market and train station. There are three routes that stop and go at every location every 10 minutes. The buses are all free and it is the only way to get around the park.  We started off at Mather Point, which is on the orange route. We then walked along the rim all the way to Yavapai Point and Geology Museum. 

At the geology centre we learned that the Grand Canyon was first explored by boat from 1834-1902 by John Wesley Powell, he led two expeditions down the Colorado River to answer this key question, why did the Colorado River cut canyons through mountains instead of flowing around them? He discovered the “river” had the right of way, it was the saw that cut the mountains in two. John Strong Newberry established that the river carved the canyon by erosion over a long span of time. His view countered other geologists beliefs that earthquakes formed the canyon. He laid the ground work that the river did it.

After completing the East section of the orange route we transferred to the blue route which took us to the red route which is an 7.5 mile section that has the best views of the Colorado river. We started off at the Bright Arrow Trailhead. This is the trail that you can either walk down to the bottom of the canyon or you can take a mule ride.  From 1903 to 1912 this trail was privately owned by Ralph Cameron, he charged $1 for every person who used the trail. In 1912 the local county assumed trail control and they charged a toll until the park acquired the trail and eliminated the toll in 1928. The trail descends 4500 feet down to the Colorado River.

The little white lines that you see is the trail down into the Canyon

This green area at the bottom of the canyon is called Indian Garden, a green oasis where for centuries the native people called it home. In spring and summer they grew many vegetables, they lived without interference until the late 1800’s

This is the Kaibab trail suspension bridge. It was built in 1852 by the American Society of Civil Engineers, it was the only bridge to cross the Colorado river. Building in such a remote area was extremely difficult. The bridge is 400 feet long and was designed to carry foot traffic, horse and mules and was made of components that had to be carried down to the the canyon. 42 men, mostly members of the Havasueai tribe carried 550 foot long, 2300 pound suspension cables 7n miles down the trail. 

Here are a couple of more pictures of the Colorado river, it was hard to spot sometimes because it was so muddy. It blended in with the landscape. They had record snowfall in this area this year. The north rim to the park usually opens up some time around the beginning of May but this year they aren’t planning to open until June.  I am not sure if the water every gets crystal clear, probably stays pretty muddy just like the Fraser in BC.  The Colorado river has 15 dams on it, the most for a river completely in the United States. The Columbia River basin has 29 dams but some of those are in Canada.

Even with all the dams the water flow through the canyon at 484,684 litres per second, that is enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool full in 5 seconds.

We finished off the red route at Hermits Rest. In 1911-1912 the Santa Fe Railway built both a trail and a camp to serve the blossoming tourist trade. They built it 9 miles from the train station to avoid the tolls on the privately controlled Bright Angel Trail. With some sandstone paved sections the Hermit Trail was considered the finest trail in the canyon. It was named the Hermit Trail after a Canadian prospector Louis Boucher who had staked claims below the Hermits rest. He was described as a kind, gentle sound, though not officially a hermit, this is who it was named after.

Hermits Rest was designed by pioneer architect Mary Colter whose distinctive style helped  shape the architecture of the Southwest and the national parks.  After an 8 mile buggy ride on unsaved roads you stopped at Hermit’s Rest for a refreshment before the journey back to your hotel.

This is the fireplace that takes up the entire back wall of the building.

We took the red bus back to the train depot, transferred back to the blue bus which took us back to the parking lot. We started the trek home.  This is the sunset just before we hit Flagstaff.