THE SOUTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON

We drove the 22 miles to the East Park Entrance and went through before the gate was attended. Our first stop was at the Indian Watchtower at Desert View.

This was one of several buildings designed by Mary Colter  who was the head architect for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948. Fred Harvey was the prime developer of tourism at the Grand Canyon and his Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel still offer a unique way to visit in old fashioned style.

Ms. Colter designed several structures on the South Rim and her plan for all was to make them look like they had been there for centuries. Or just grew out of the landscape.


The views here as the sun light hit the canyon walls was well worth the early rising and departure from Cameron.

We stopped at several more overlooks on our way to Hermit's Rest which is another Mary Colter building at the west end of the south rim scenic road.

Hermit's Rest. Mary Colter wanted it to look like "an old shanty a mountain man put up." But it had to be nice enough for the well heeled travelers who took a rest break here before hiking or riding mules down the Bright Angel Trail 9 miles to the river and Phantom Ranch, which she also designed.

The "Mountain Man" was mighty strong or had a bunch of helpers.

There is almost no mortar in this arch.

I don't know how our Federal government has allowed these signs to stay, but there are several in the park.

The fireplace is at the back of this half dome room.  The arch is amazing.

Even the interior doorways have similar arches.

We took the shuttle back to Grand Canyon Village where there are several more Colter designed buildings.

Kolb Studio was one of the few historic buildings on the rim that Colter did not design. It was the home and photographic studio of pioneers Emery and Ellsworth Kolb. They built it in 1904. It now houses a gallery showcasing local artists' work.

A beautiful mountain lion in bronze. The artist probably didn't know he was sculpting the Nittany Lion.

This plaque was at the entrance to "Lookout Studio", another Colter creation.

She really did hang this one on the rim.

Colter's Bright Angel Lodge.

We took the shuttle back to the Visitor's Center and then drove east to very close to our starting point. We were looking for the best location to catch the rays of the setting sun on the canyon walls.

Several people suggested Lipan Point so that's where we went.

Again low clouds on the western horizon kept the light from being what we had hoped for. But Carol got a couple of spectacular pictures anyway. 

 

The guy with the fancy camera and lens got some better ones as the light was fading. But he was shooting something like ISO8600. Back in the 1970's I remember the great feeling of accomplishment when we pushed black and white to ISO1200. The pictures were terribly grainy but we had done it ! When Carol complimented him on the setup he said, "Do you want to buy it? I'll sell it to you for the $3,000. I've got in it." She asked, "Then what would you do?" He said, "Buy a more expensive one."

The clouds kept the canyon from really shining but they also gave us one of the best sunsets of our trip. 

Our next "tourist stop" is Las Vegas but we're putting in a couple of days of R&R in Kingman, AZ first.