Grand Canyon East Rim

Today we headed back to the Grand Canyon to see the East Rim. We did however stop at the rock shop in Valle first. It is a neat little shop called Rocks and More. The shop itself is amazing, The amount of rocks and art pieces are plentiful. Brenda found some sample of copper, she wants to do a display with the various kinds of it. Len found out in the back some really neat crazy lace agates that were only $3 a pound so we all got a bunch of them. All around the shop they had these large metal statues that were laced out like a Wild West stagecoach robbery. 

This was a huge piece of quartz crystal that  was outside the building.

This is all the raw rocks that they had out back. Brenda found some really great pieces to slab when she gets back home.

Next stop was the Grand Canyon. It was much busier today so we were very glad that we were doing the East rim which does not get as much traffic.  Our first stop was Dessert view. This is the location of the Dessert View Watchtower.  It is a 70 ft high stone building located 25 miles to the east of the Grand Canyon Village.  The 4 story structure, completed in 1932, designed by American architect Mary Colter, who also created and designed many other buildings in the area including Hermits Rest. 

The tower was designed to resemble an Ancestral Puebloan watchtower, but its size dwarfs any known Puebloan built tower. The main space is the Kiva room in the base structure, roofed with logs that were salvaged from the old Grandview Hotel. The ceiling is a false structure concealing the the structure that supports the observation deck.  This ladder was used to come down through a smug ceremony to cleanse oneself in the smoke. 

The stairs at the back of the building lead up to the second level which is an enclosed observation level.  These murals were decorated by Fred Kabotie. 

There is also an outside observation deck from which I could see Brenda and Len down below.

The 3rd and 4th floors are dedicated to replicas of petroglyphs and pictographs of a variety of native ruins in the southwest.

This is the ceiling looking up from the observation deck.

Here are a few of the views from along the rim. It was very windy that day and there was not as many railings along this area, so you had to be extra careful. There was large gust that made you loose your balance.

This was a much more relaxed day as this rim does not get as many people. The area is so large that it is difficult to do everything in one day so most people concentrate on the areas around the village. This is our second visit to the area and it was just as enjoyable as the first. It is difficult to experience the vastness of the area through pictures but hopefully we have given everyone a glimpse of the grandness of the canyon.