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Published: October 25th 2017
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blog 10-23-17 Grand Canyon the second day
After discussing our options we opted to head to the east end of the park first to the Desert Watch Tower then come back to the house for lunch then about 4 head to the Bright Angel Lodge to view sunset.
With the plan in place we were in the park by 10 am but didn't get to the tower for another 1/2 hour because it was 24 miles away. The first stop was to find the place where the stamp was for our Passport books and discovered it was in the tower.
So several pictures later we got our books stamped then headed up 4 flights of stairs to explore the tower. It was built in 1923 by the company that was trying to develope tourism in the canyon and thought it would be a good gift shop and attraction. The person who designed the tower was Mary Colter and she spent years researching the local Native cultures and visiting ruins and cultural sites to incorporate as much of their culture as possible. The result is magnificent.
The tower started with a steel frame and local hand picked rocks
were laid to look like part of the landscape. There are windows throughout allowing the visitor special views of the canyon and surrounding terrain. There are reflectoscopes of black onyx to show reverse images of a scene allowing an artist to pick up the special colors.
Inside is a display of pictographs and Native art depicting ceremonies and special events. Here are pictures, I'll let them tell the story.
After coming down from the tower we found a quiet bench and sat and overlooked the canyon enjoying it's splender. There were 30 or 40 ravens flying all around swooping and gliding looking like they just enjoyed flying. I'm jealous.
It was time to head back and in 1/2 hr we were home with the boys letting them run in their pen and enjoy the fresh air. At 4 we left for Bright Angel and lucky for us found a parking place at El Tovar the hotel right next door. Unfortunately there was smoke in the air from the fire on the north side of the canyon so I didn't think sunset would be so good. Just in the nick of time the sun went below the smoke
cloud and lit up the canyon for about 7 minutes before it went below the horizon. It was really pretty but not it's best but still pretty nice.
Ginnie drove home in the almost dark but not before we saw more critters than we wanted. First a mule deer and her baby from this year, then a mom with 2 young ones, then a herd of elk that crossed right in front of the car. Good thing it was at a stop sign so all was well. Ginnie took a picture with her phone but it was so dark we're lucky she got it at all. The camera shows it much lighter than it was.
Back home all was well, we fed the dogs then went to bed early. Tomorrow we head out for Holbrook, AZ where we stay for 2 nights.
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