table, and Navajo rugs. In the log-cabin part of the main edifice are two large rooms. One is used for reception purposes, being warmed by means of an old-fashioned fireplace and tastefully carpeted with Indian rugs, also furnished with capacious rocking chairs and a piano; the other of these two rooms is for emergency uses. Another building has been erected recently which contains twenty sleeping rooms and furnishes excellent accommodations for tourists.
Good meals are prepared by an expert cook and served in a pleasant dining-room. In a word, the hotel facilities are good, far better than one might expect to find for the reasonable rate charged. There is no “roughing it,” everything is homelike and comfortable. One must not, however, expect all the city luxuries. A telephone line directly connects the hotel with the outer world at Williams.
Note.— A fine modern hotel of fifty rooms, with cottage annexes, will be built in this vicinity during the coming year and managed by Mr. Fred Harvey. It will provide all the latest conveniences.
While one ought to remain at least a week, a stop-over of three days from the transcontinental trip will allow practically two days at the canyon. One full day should be devoted to an excursion down Bright Angel Trail, and the other to walks and drives along the rim. The views from Rowe’s, O'Neill’s, and other points are always satisfactory. There is a sufficient variety of outlook from the plateau level to fully occupy the time, Another day on the rim—making a four-days’ stop-over in all—will enable visitors to get more satisfactory views of this stupendous wonder.
The trail here is perfectly safe and is generally open the year round. In midwinter it is liable to be closed for a few days at the top by snow, but such blockade is only temporary. It reaches from the hotel four miles to the top of the granite wall immediately overlooking the Colorado River, At this point the river is 1,200 feet below, while the hotel on the rim is 4,300 feet above. The trip is commonly made on horseback, accompanied by a guide; charges for trail stock and services of guide are moderate. A strong person, accustomed to mountain climbing, can make the round trip on foot in one day, by starting early enough; but the average traveler will soon discover that a horse is a necessity, especially for the upward climb.
Eight hours are required for going down and coming back, allowing two hours for lunch, rest, and sight-seeing, Those wishing to reach the river leave the main trail at Indian Garden Spring and follow the downward course of Willow Creek. Owing to the abrupt descent from this point, part of the side trail must be traversed on foot. Provision is made for those wishing to camp out at night on the river’s edge.
The famous guide, John Hance, is now located at Bright Angel.
If much tramping is done, stout, thick shoes should be provided. Ladies will find that short walking skirts are a convenience; divided skirts are preferable, but not essential, for the horseback journey down the zigzag trail. Traveling caps and (in summer) broad-brimmed straw hats are useful toilet adjuncts. Otherwise ordinary clothing will suffice. A good field glass materially assists in getting a satisfactory view of the farthest cliffs. A camera of ordinary size should be brought along, although it can only record little details of the canyon—one should not expect to photograph the entire panorama.
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