204 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Bright Angel and the Hermit Trails. The former i; 

 perhaps the most terrifying horse trail in America, if 

 not in the world. In many places it is built out from 

 the vertical cliii' and overhangs a thousand feet of depth 

 below. While the trail it not as dangerous as some in 

 the Yosemite National Park, or in the Mount Whitney 

 country, it nevertheless possesses those curious character- 

 istics which tend to make one recall the past with that 

 suddenness which leads to prayer. From the upper rim 

 none of those imps of terror are visible and the uninitiated 

 approach the first few yards of the downward trail with 

 just about that degree of nonchalance with which one 

 might expect to see a professional golfer step on to a 

 putting green. But he soon learns that this is no way 

 to "address" the Bright Angel Trail, for his "stance" 

 must be taken from the back of a long-sufifering mule. 



Since we have fallen into the vernacular of golf, I 

 would say that the carry is one that has never yet been 

 properly estimated. At first glance, and even after some 

 study, the distance seems moderate and the hazards 

 trivial, with few opportunities for putting. The latter, 

 however, is the greatest mistake of all for, with all due 



regard to the excellence of the hotel's cuisine, putting 

 is the principal pastime of the novitiate on the Bright 

 Angel Trail. On one trip to the Canyon, I saw an elderly 

 Irishman repeatedly calculating the distance to the bot- 

 tom. I asked him if he intended to make an attempt and 

 he said he thought he would, that he figured he would 

 have just about enough time to reach the river below 

 and return for dinner. When I remonstrated he said 

 it was an easy matter for him. I watched him start, and 

 about 2 p. m. I saw him, less than a third of the way 

 down, turn and head back. That evening I said to him, 

 "Did you reach the bottom?" "No," he replied, "Oi 

 didn't get as far-r as Oi thot Oi wud — ^but thin Oi didn't 

 think Oi wud." 



Everyone who \isits the canyon seems possessed of the 

 ambition to descend to its bottom. No doubt he is led by 

 that same ambition which prompts the average traveler, 

 for the first few days, to order and eat everything upon 

 an American-plan bill of fare. The result, too, is about 

 the same, for after the experiment he frequently can 

 hold nothing on his stomach but his hand. All admoni- 

 tions of the guide to close the eyes and let the mule do 



Photografh by I'rcJ Harvey 



LOOKING OVER THE RIM NEAR EL TOVAR HOTEL 



\t this point the canvon is about 4,400 feet deep, and it is possible to see up and down the canyon for many of its sixty miles of length. It is 

 fourteen miles wide but does not seem so because distances here are difficult to judge. The Bright Angel trail starts close to the hotel. 



