CHAPTER V. Three Ways Of Spending One Day At The Canyon
There are many who can take only a hasty trip to the Canyon. This is to be
deplored, as the Grand Canyon is one of the sights that cannot be fully
comprehended in a day; and yet, if one has but a day, to get merely one
good long glimpse at it is worth all the effort and expense that it may
cost, even to the least wealthy of its visitors. And while it cannot be too
strongly urged that all who come prepare themselves to stay at least a
week - a month is far better - I offer a few practical suggestions to those
who have less time, and wish to use it to the fullest possible advantage.
Three Suggestions to the "One-Day" Visitor. To those who have but one full
day, a choice is offered of three courses; first, and best of all, to drive
to the head of Hermit Trail on the new Hermit Rim Road, and to visit
Yavapai and Hopi Points; the second, to drive to Grand View; the third, to
ride down Bright Angel Trail.
First Trip - An Afternoon on Hermit Rim Road to Head of Hermit Trail. To
the less strenuous visitor who wishes to see all he can in one day without
the fatigue of the trail trip, two courses are open, both of which include
driving to prominent points on the rim and sightseeing in their vicinity.
One is to drive out on Hermit Rim Road, which drive will give a variety of
scenery unequaled by any other trip to be made on the rim. This trip,
giving panorama views to the west of El Tovar, can be made in one half of
the day, let us say the afternoon, leaving the morning for a drive to
Yavapai Point, which gives corresponding panoramas to the east, though
Yavapai is only three miles from the Hotel.
It is nine miles west of El Tovar to the head of Hermit Trail on the new
Hermit Rim Road, and about three and one-half hours are required for the
trip in addition to whatever time is consumed in sightseeing at the various
points on which stops are made.
The road passes Maricopa, Hopi, Mohave and Pima Points, and some time is
spent on each, as there is some special appeal in the buttes and the cliffs
and the depths as seen from each, but all along the route the gigantic
panorama of Grand Canyon stretches for miles and miles - a world of beauty;
all along the route the attention is claimed by some surprising
feature, - the precipices of the opposite wall, the great interior rock
temples, and side canyons, and everywhere the incomparable colors.
