PICTURE 1 - First View near El Tovar Hotel. Gasp! As you walk up to the edge, the canyon simply drops away into a mile deep chasm. You just stand there gazing at it, trying to take it in. But, you won't. Not in your lifetime!


PICTURE 2 - East View. Gazing further to your right, the canyon just keeps going. Actually, it stretches more than 200 miles, and if you count further north, you'd end up in Wyoming. What a river!! In the old days, it was called 'the Grand', where it was born.


PICTURE 3 - West View. Now, we're looking to our left into the west. Throughout the canyons, you see islands and capes just hanging in an invisible sea of air! They call the opposite side the 'North Rim'. It's almost 1,000 feet higher than you.


PICTURE 4 - Curio Shop. When Teddy (Roosevelt, of course) signed the act creating the national park in 1908, he strongly recommended no buildings or houses! He thought the canyon should be kept pristine. Obviously, everyone agreed!!


PICTURE 5 - Kolb Brothers Studio Well, let's be fair. The Kolb brothers pre-dated Teddy. They operated a photo studio at the top of the Bright Angel Trail. They'd take everyones' picture, hike down into the canyon to process the film and hike BACK in time to sell them to the returning tourists. For years! (They also ran the Colorado River almost unscathed too.)


PICTURE 6 - Hermit's Rest Here, we're at the western-most point from the park road. A hundred years ago, Hermit's Rest was pretty isolated. This general area had quite a bit of mining activity, until just a few years ago. You'd be surprised how many people go over the edge (but not here)!


PICTURE 7 - A Last Look Now, we're strolling back to the hotel. If we were truly brave, we could have hiked down the Bright Angel trail, which is heavy with snow and ice. But, brave we are not! Better to sit aroud a nice hot fire, and chat with other visitors!


PICTURE 8 - El Tovar Hotel In the early 20th century, national parks built spacious hotels to attract visitors. Here at the Grand Canyon, they also built other special buildings to enhance the experience ... Hopi center and the Watchtower were just two of these. Teddy would have been proud!


PICTURE 9 - Grand Canyon Train In the Canyon's early days, you came by stage coach from Flagstaff. Then the Santa Fe modernized with a train from Williams! These days, in the summer, it's an old steam-driven beauty. Here, we see a 50's version at the Grand Canyon station.