It is awesome!

The Grand Canyon is 1 mile deep and the average distance across is 10 miles!

It is hard to imagine.

You can see a lot of it from the South Rim where we are.

We take Clementine and leave our camp at Grand Canyon Village and drive along Desert View Drive about 25 miles east to Desert View to see the Watch Tower. Desert View Drive goes right along the rim of the Grand Canyon and there are a lot of overlooks we will check out on the way back after lunch.

After lunch we go and check out the Watch Tower that was built in 1939 by Mary Colter http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/photos/colter/watch/index.htm . The views from the tower are amazing. This is one of the highest spots on the South Rim. Far to the east lies the multihued Painted Desert that gave the viewpoint its name. Below, to the north, the Colorado River comes out of Marble Canyon, then curves west through the main part of the Grand Canyon toward Diamond Creek that we visited a couple of days ago.. We take a lot of pictures and video.

 

On the way back to camp, we make some stops along Desert View Drive.

Navajo Point

Navajo Point is just half a mile west of Desert View. At 7,498 feet, Navajo is the highest spot anywhere on the south rim, though the top of the 5 storey watchtower at Desert View was slightly taller.

From here you can see the watchtower we where in.

Lipan Point

Lipan Point lies half a mile north of the main scenic drive, reached by a spur road that climbs 80 feet to the parking area, on top of a small summit.

Tusayan Ruin

Ancestral Puebloans built this village in a.d. 1185–1190, according to tree-ring dating, then stayed 25–30 years before migrating elsewhere. Up to 30 people lived here, contending with poor soil, little rainfall, and scarce drinking water. Archaeologists who excavated part of the site in 1930 named it Tusayan, a Spanish term for Hopi territory.

A 1-mile paved trail loops around the plaza and ruins of living quarters, storage rooms, and two kivas. A short side trail leads to an area that may have been used for growing crops.

Moran Point

Along with Desert View, Grandview and Yaki, Moran is one of the most visited points on the east rim drive, and offers far reaching views along a wide section of the Grand Canyon, approximately between river miles 87 and 72. The point is due south of Cape Royal on the North Rim - just 8 miles away in a straight line but 215 miles by road. The promontory is reached by a short spur road and was named after the landscape painter Thomas Moran who came here for the first time in 1873 and helped popularize the canyon, leading eventually to its incorporation as a national monument in 1908 (and a national park in 1919). To the west, Coronado Butte blocks some of the southern cliffs but there are still fine views downriver over a succession of red ridges and ravines, as far as Yaki Point where the Colorado bends back south. The eastern aspect is more restricted, by Zuni Point and ridges below.

 
Cliffs west of Moran
Below Moran Point is Red Canyon, a very colorful tributary and especially so at the lower end where deep red/orange layered rocks are exposed, formed of Hakatai shale. This location is one of many unconformities in the strata of the canyon, where adjacent rocks are separated by long periods of geological time - here the flat, light colored plateau between Red Canyon and the next drainage north (Mineral Canyon) is formed of Bright Angel shale from the Cambrian era, and is over 600 million years younger then the pre-Cambrian Hakatai. The New Hance Trail runs along Red Canyon and meets the Escalante Route opposite Hance Rapids, which are just visible from the rim.

Grandview Point

Many people consider this aptly named point one of the best. It’s 12 miles east of Grand Canyon Village, then .8 miles north. Sweeping panoramas take in much of the Grand Canyon from this commanding site above Horseshoe Mesa. The vastness and intricacies of the Canyon show themselves especially well here.

Yaki Point and South Kaibab Trailhead

The turnoff is two miles east of Mather Point, but visitors must take a shuttle service to these destinations from Canyon View Information Plaza, except in winter, when private cars are allowed. Bicycling is another option. Hikers can get an early start by taking a special year-round shuttle from Bright Angel Lodge and the Backcountry Information Center directly to the South Kaibab Trailhead. From Yaki Point, at road’s end, you can see much of the central Grand Canyon. The South Kaibab Trail snakes its way along Cedar Ridge below.

Cliffs east of Mather Point
The majority of visitors to the South Rim first gaze over the Grand Canyon at Mather Point; although other places have slightly better views, Mather is the number one choice as it is closest to the entrance station, and right beside the road. The point has quite a large car park but this soon fills up on busy summer days, when excess cars have to park along the main road. It is not uncommon for both sides to be lined with vehicles for a third of a mile or more and for small queues to form. RVs and other large vehicles are not permitted in the official car park so they too have to be left at roadside. The park headquarters on the south rim (the Canyon View Center, opened in 2001) is a short distance south of Mather Point, accessible only by shuttlebus or on foot. The center is intended to be the northern terminus of a mass transit system, transporting people from large carparks in the village of Tusayan, but this is many years away from completion.

At least the actual viewing area is extensive. The point has two narrow, railed overlooks built on projecting rocks, various other view points along the rim in both directions, and to the west, the Rim Trail offers more vistas all the way to the next point (Yavapai).

On the south side of the Colorado River, the panorama at Mather Point extends from the lower end of Garden Creek taking in some of the Bright Angel Trail, over the deep canyon of Pipe Creek and eastwards to Cedar Ridge/O'Neill Butte, along which runs the South Kaibab Trail starting from the next point to the east - Yaki. Some of the Tonto Trail is also in view, near Pipe Creek. On the North Rim, the vista is centered on the long, straight Bright Angel Creek, flowing for 10 miles between a collection of tall red buttes and other ravines.

Yavapai Point.

We take a lot of pictures and video, but they don’t do it justice. When you are standing on the edge of t his place it just takes your breath away.

We get back to the camp and decide to have dinner at the El Tovar Hotel. We have a couple of drinks in the bar as we wait for our table. The dining room is old, historical and beautiful. The dinner is disappointing, but the service is well done. It was all in all a good experience having dinner in this unique place.