Views of Arizona: Desert View Watchtower

Desert View is the first lookout point one encounters along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park as one approaches from the east. The Watchtower, a modern construction meant to look like an ancient monument, was designed by Mary Colter.

Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower (1932)

The steel frame

Interior

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Views of Arizona: Morning in the Grand Canyon Village

Like any landscape, the Grand Canyon's appearance changes in different light, in different weather, and in different seasons, but the sheer magnitude of the vista is unlike any other. Here's what we saw on our last morning at the national monument, July 19, 2018.

Grand Canyon

Salt and pepper shakers
El Tovar

Mary Colter's Hopi House (1905)

Verkamp's

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Views of Arizona: The Grand Canyon from the Mather Point Overlook

Mather Point affords a good view of many of the visitors to the Grand Canyon, which helps to define the scale of the national monument.

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Views of Arizona: Spent Footwear

On the day we hiked the Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Trail—two miles in and two miles back—I chose to wear a pair of sturdy, twenty-year-old hiking boots. Early on the walk back up while still deep in the canyon, the bottoms fell off both boots within half an hour of each other. Perhaps you already suspected it, but your blogger has no sole.

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Views of Arizona: Grand Canyon Celebrity Sighting?

The Grand Canyon Visitor Center is beginning to look a little like Times Square.

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Views of Arizona: Mules on the Bright Angel Trail

On our hike down the Bright Angel Trail into the Grand Canyon we encountered some pack mules on their way up. Twice a week they bring supplies down to the Phantom Ranch across the Colorado River.

At the center is the Plateau Point Trail.

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Views of Arizona: El Tovar Hotel Lobby

The spacious lobby of El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon Village includes several mounted animal trophy heads. Surely these animals must have influenced Walt Disney's Country Bear Jamboree theme park attraction.

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Views of Arizona: Stating the Obvious

You will seldom go wrong if you assume that a great many people lack common sense. This sign, which one might suppose should be unnecessary, was posted in the Village area of the Grand Canyon.

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Views of Arizona: Storm Over the Grand Canyon

We arrived  at the Grand Canyon late in the afternoon on July 17, 2018. We had hoped to see a spectacular sunset. Instead, because it was monsoon season, we saw this:

Sunset from El Tovar

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