THE GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO 



203 



HERMIT'S REST 



This attractive place, from which there is a glorious outlook, is at 

 the head of the Hermits Rim road. 



so much to the grandeur of the spectacle, for they admit 

 of a sweep of the vision up and down the canyon for 

 many miles. 



The Canyon proper is over 60 miles in length, from 

 10 to 14 miles in width and of an average depth of 

 4,400 feet in the 

 vicinity of El To- 

 var. I have been 

 advised that the 

 above is about as 

 far as any sane in- 

 dividual should at- 

 tempt to go with 

 serious description 

 of this subject, but, 

 like the sirens of 

 old, the coral cliffs, 

 yawning abyss, 

 glorious gehenna, 

 towering temples 

 and such like 

 phrases sing their 

 irresistible song 

 that leads to liter- 

 ary destruction. 

 There are really 

 two canyons, one 

 above the other. 

 The lower one is 

 about one thousand 

 feet deep and is in 

 almost solid gran- 

 ite. The walls of 

 this portion are 

 more like the can- 

 yons of the Sierra 

 Nevada in Cali- 

 fornia and they 

 form what is called 



Photograph by Fred Harvey 



VIEW FROM NEW HERMIT RIM ROAD 



Here is to be had one of the most wonderful of the many wonderful views at the Canyon. It 

 '* 0I 1 '. ne w ay to the new Hermit Trail, which, because it is a much easier descent than 

 the Bright Angel Trail, is yearly becoming more popular. 



THE EL TOVAR HOTEL 



From the windows, porches and grounds around this hotel one may see 

 miles of the Canyon, and if no other view that is obtained here 

 was to be had the trip would be well worth while. 



the "granite gorge." On the rim of this gorge is a 

 plateau which extends backward for a mile or so, grad- 

 ually merging into the talus piles of the upper cliffs 

 that rise 3,400 feet above the plateau. From the upper 

 rim the plateau, over a half mile below, appears smooth 



enough to make an 

 afternoon ride on 

 horseback a delight 

 of cantering and 

 posting, but as a 

 matter of fact it i. ; 

 so rough and brok- 

 en with piles of 

 boulders as to 

 make a trip over it 

 well nigh impossi- 

 ble. There is a 

 trail, so called, that 

 leads from the Her- 

 mit Trail along the 

 rim to the Bright 

 Angel Trail, but 

 from personal ex- 

 perience it is not, 

 in my opinion, ad- 

 visable to take the 

 trip, although quite 

 a number of people 

 have tried it. 



The Canyon bot- 

 tom is reached by 

 trail in two places, 

 one right below the 

 hotel and the 

 other at a point 

 about 20 miles up 

 the river. These 

 two trails are 

 known as the 



