Thursday...a walk

Grand Canyon National Park

Thursday we boarded the bus that took us to Hermits Rest.  Hermit Road, is a 7 mile scenic drive used by shuttle buses, bicyclists, and pedestrians...no cars. Our goal was to walk the 7.8 miles back to the GC Village.


Louis Boucher, nick-named "the Hermit", was an immigrant from Canada. He was a part-time prospector and full-time tourist guide who operated crude overnight camps below Hermits Rest. "the Hermit" came to the Canyon around 1889 and mined copper until 1912. He called his mule Calamity Jane.

Road builders of the 1930s placed narrow pullouts at overlooks for viewing along Hermits Road. Although Hermit Road was reconstructed in 2008, today's drive is essentially the same as the one completed in 1935. Park services began improving the foot-path back in the 1930s and continue today.

 

From Hermits Rest, we walked the 1.1 mile to Pima Point. Here the main attraction is the Great Mohave Wall...an almost sheer cliff plunging 3,000 feet.


 

Another 1.7 miles to Monument Creek Vista. This part of the foot-path is a paved greenway trail...bicycle and handicapped friendly.

For the next 3.1 miles we passed The Abyss, Mohave Point, Hopi Point and arrived at Powell Point all on an unpaved trail.

A view of the rapids at Monument Creek Vista.

In the picture below, we had a spectacular easterly view of Dana Butte with Granite Rapids visible...if you look close...at Hopi Point.







 

The Powell Memorial at Powell Point...the memorial was erected in 1915 to honor the first party to run the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. John Wesley Powell was the leader of the group. Powell set out in 1869 with four wooden boats and nine men to explore the Colorado River. Three months later, only six survivors and two battered boats emerged from the canyon's portal . Most of the scientific data was lost so Powell returned in 1871 and completed a more thorough report.


The foot-path changed to a paved trail at Powell Point for the rest of the walk...1.9 miles to the Village. We passed Maricopa Point and Trailview Overlooks.
At Trailview  Overlooks you have a great view of the Bright Angel Trail...the park service gained control of the trail in 1928. They rebuilt it to ease the grade. From the overlook you can see the mule parties, backpackers and day hikers. This is a hint of todays (Friday) adventure! 

The last little part of our walk was The Trail of Time...markers, like the one below were spaced out to give a geological timeline.

We made it! What a great way to spend the afternoon!

 

 Thanks for stopping by!

Y'all come back!

 

The Grand Canyon...Our first view!

Here we are... All settled in at Trailer Village, Grand Canyon Village, AZ. Early Wednesday morning we headed out to the visitor center and our first view of the Grand Canyon at Mather Point. 



The air was crisp, the skies were blue, and oh yes, Tammy...the sweet smell of pine trees!

There really are no words to describe what we saw!

We walked along the paved greenway, mostly in silence, except for quite a few "wows" and "oh mys", just trying to take it all in.

Indian paintbrush

According to information in a book we bought today (Along the rim...A guide to Grand Canyon's South Rim from Hermits Rest to Desert View) Stephen Mather, along with his assistant, supervised the final stages of the 37 year fight to grant Grand Canyon the protection that finally brought it into the National Park System in 1919. 

In 1914, Mather, who had a devotion to monumental western landscapes, complained to Congress about the management of Yosemite and Sequoia. Congress wrote back..."if you don't like the way the national parks are being run, come on down to Washington and run them yourself." So he did! He became the first director of the National Park Service in 1916.

After lunch, Joe and I decided we wanted to go exploring...jeep style!

 
After a nice visit with the Rangers at the Tusayan Ranger Station, we decided to take the Grandview Trailhead...which best suited out time frame. Just south of the town Tusayan, we took FR 302 east for about 15 miles.





The roads were mostly graded dirt roads, suitable for passenger vehicles. But we did take several of the old logging roads...fun!


Of course, I was looking for any kind of wildlife!



The mule deer were all we saw! OOPS! Thanks Judy and Sandie...these are elk!








The lookout tower was built in 1936 by the CCC.

 

We had a great day.

 

Hope you had a nice day too. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Y'all come back!