You went how far in how long??

Friday, June 3, 2011
Grand Canyon National Park

We have 7 days in the park so
today we decided to continue with our
Rim Trail hike westward.

But we didn’t get very far.
In 6 hours we went 1.9 miles.

Yes you heard me right.

But that’s how far you go
if you walk west doing The Line of Time
AND THEN arrive in Grand Canyon Village
and go in each and every one of the
historic structures there AND take
a total of 788 pictures.
Yes that is ridiculous,
but how can you help yourself
in such an amazing place.

Shortly after we started out,
we ran into The Trail of Time

 

(this marker is made of the different rocks in the canyon layers)

And walked it
on the Rim trail between
Yavapai Observation Station
and Grand Canyon Village.

The Trail of Time is a very interesting idea
” (It) is an interpretive walking
timeline that focuses on Grand Canyon vistas
and rocks and invites visitors to ponder, explore,
and understand the magnitude of geologic time
and the stories encoded by
Grand Canyon rock layers and landscapes”

The trail, created in 2005, is marked
by brass markers in the  pavement with every meter
representing 1 Million years of time.

(for you Carrie) 

First in 1 year increments, then 10 years,
then 100 years then…..well you get the picture.

Along the way are simply gorgeous samples
of the rocks in that geologic section
of the Canyon.  Most rocks were polished on one
side, natural on the other and had the age
inscribed on the pedestal.

How about 280M years old?

Or two very different looking limestones
25M years apart?

 

 

There were types of rock for about every 15M years.
And we, of course, took pictures of every one.
They were SO beautiful.  But I’ll spare you
and skip to
900M and 1130M years old

Skipping tons of beautiful stones here.
But check out the ages of these.

 

I can’t even think about
eighteen hundred million years old.

 

This marking of the trail goes on for
over 2 miles and we walked nearly all of it.

And along the way we took more
shots of the canyon of course.
How can you not?

 

And then we came to Grand Canyon Village
which is the original “historic buildings”
area of the park.

First was Verkamp’s store, the
first shop to sell “curios” and Indian Crafts
in the village. 

 

The John Verkamp and his family ran the
store from 1898 until 2008

There is a very interesting history of the village
and canyon painted on
the floor and walls of half of what is now a Visitor’s Center.

Grand Canyon is the home of a number
of buildings designed and furnished by
Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter,
an amazing woman in her time or any.

She was a woman succeeding in a man’s world
in the first half of the 20th century.
She was chief architect for the Fred Harvey Company
from 1902 to 1948.  She designed and built 23 buildings
for the company.  Eighteen of which are still standing.
Six of those are in the Grand Canyon.

Hopi House was her first creation here.
It was designed to sell Indian arts and crafts
and is modeled after structures
in the Hopi village of Oraibi.

When the building opened in 1905
the upper floors housed Hopi families
who demonstrated their arts in the building.

It was designed, as were all of her buildings, to
blend into its surroundings as was one
of the first to imitate Native architecture
rather than Spanish.

It is a lovely building both outside

and inside.

The ceiling is woven of sticks and needles.

Displaying Native arts.

And the furnishings chosen by Mary EJ Colter.

Even the floors were decorated

It also has doorways just my size.

Outside the Hopi House was a raised
stone area on which Native Americans were dancing.

The father was the drummer, flutist and
narrator. 

His family were the dancers.

The dancing was excellent but the final
dance, the hoop dance, was fantastic.
The eldest young man made not one mistake
in this very intricate dance with 13 hoops.
If you ever have a chance to see a Native American
hoop dance performed by a competition dancer
do not hesitate.

It is simply an amazing display of skill.
After whooping and hollering our
appreciation and putting a well deserved
donation in the corner baskets we
went on our way.

Across from Hopi House is
the famous El Tovar Hotel also built
in 1905 but in a heavy Spanish design.

 Both outside and inside

Next to El Tovar were two more recently
built Hotels and then
The Bright Angel Lodge also
designed by Mary Colter.

It is accessible from the Rim Side of the Building

and from the Street side.

The Lobby is rustic and
continues the bold designs
from the Exterior

There is a "History Room”
which tells the stories of
hospitality in the Grand Canyon
including information about
Fred Harvey, Mary EJ Coulter

and of the Harvey Girls brought in
to all his establishments by Fred Harvey
to add refinement and elegance.


The stories of these women coming to the
west to work at a time when there were virtually no
women here was a fascinating one. 
The Harvey Girls were an integral part
of the business until the 1960’s.

The Museum has the books shown above for sale.

It has an original Harvey Girls “uniform”.
(think of wearing this in August)

as well as original Bright Angel
Lodge Furniture all designed by Colter.

.

and one of the carriages which
brought visitors to the Grand Canyon
prior to the railroad.

The stories told in pictures and displays
were fascinating.  I loved the following sign from the
Health Department displayed by the
Santa Fe Railroad which owned
all the buildings at the canyon.
Fred Harvey Company owned
all the furnishings, furniture, decorations,
tableware etc.

Further on down the Rim Trail
was another of Colter’s Buildings,
The Outlook Studio, which blends
in so well with its surroundings
it is a bit difficult to see at first.

“Its low rough cut limestone design
adheres to ideas expressed by pioneer
landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted
who felt that any park structure that
drew attention away from the works of
nature to the works of man was inappropriate.”

The building is now a Visitor’s Center
and Gift Shop.

The studio was built in 1914 by The Fred Harvey Company
in part to compete with the Kolb Brothers’ Studio
located just down the way near the Bright Angel Trailhead.

The patios have wonderful views to
use as backdrops for the photography.

The oldest surviving historic structure in the park is
the Bucky O’Neill cabin.

O’Neill built the cabin near the rim prior
to the 1890’s.  It still provides lodging
for visitors.

The final historic structure on the rim
is the Kolb Brothers’ Studio established in 1904
by Elsworth Kolb and his brother Emery.

Emery operated the studio until 1976
when he died here at age 95.

In 1911-1912 they shot the first motion
picture of a boat going down the Colorado.
They took it of themselves.

 

Emery presented the film for nearly 60 years
here in what is now the museum.

I am really sorry I missed that.

The studio then

and now

The Studio is now a Bookstore and Museum.

Buildings of course were not the only things
we saw.

There was a photographer at the Indian
dancing who was almost as large as her camera.

There was a mountain bluebird

Four California Condors we watched
for quite some time.  The condor is
a reintroduction success story and
although they have a face only a mother could love

they also have a wing span of NINE feet and
soar magnificently through the skies.

and of course we saw continuous
views of the canyon.

What a day!!