The Grand Canyon - The Watch Tower

The Grand Canyon

For those of you that have read my Bucket List, you know that it has long been a dream of my husband and I to see the Grand Canyon. We finally did it, we made it to the Grand Canyon in mid March of 2009!

The Grand Canyon is absolutely incredible. It is so immense, it is absolutely huge. You gaze across this massive expanse of canyon and can not even take in how far you are actually looking. Mountain peaks that seem just a few miles across are over 70 miles in the distance.

The colors of the Canyon are just incredible and ever changing. Even though so many take pictures from the same view points along the way, the different times of day change it. The different seasons and weather patterns change the Canyon.

Even as you look down into the Canyon, you continue to see more and more of it.

You realize way down at the bottom, that muddy river is the Colorado River. The river that played such a huge part in carving this massive expanse through the rock. The river looks so tiny from a mile above.

You see the square hole in the side of a Butte and discover that hole is actually the opening to a mine.

A yellow dot on a smooth green grass and dirt covered flat top of one of the walls of the canyon, turns into a tent through your looking glass, be it binoculars or your camera's lens. Closer inspection reveals the trail that leads to that tent and a hiker moving along it. You imagine the return trip they will have coming back up the nine mile switchbacks to the top of the south rim. One wonders just how warm it is down at the bottom in March, as you stand in 60 degree F, and just read that the bottom of the Canyon is on average 30 degrees warmer than the top of the rim. Is it really 90 degrees already?

What looks like a completely uninhabited Canyon at first glance, changes as you look further and realize there is a few old buildings of a camp in that little crevice between two walls. We read that people make reservations one to two years in advance to camp there.

Come join me on this photo series of tours of the Grandest of all Canyons. But if you think that through these pictures you have seen the Grand Canyon in full, I will honestly tell you that nothing can compare to standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and experiencing the silent awe of looking across its beautiful span, millions of years of layers of rock, miles of distance, a palette of colors painted by the Colorado, the wind, the weather and time.

We begin our tour from the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The Watch Tower on this page. Then off to the Peaks of Grand Canyon, to The Tusayan Ruins, the Colors of the Grand Canyon, and the last in the Series is the Museum at the Grand Canyon. Links shown at the end of this page. Enjoy this unique perspective of the Grand Canyon.

As you approach the Watchtower, this is the first view of it. Honestly it looked a little unstable, I think it is the way they built it with the rocks jetting out of it.

The holes on the top rim of the roof almost look as if it is falling apart. But on closer inspection it seems quite sturdy, and well built.

The Watchtower in Grand Canyon

This is my favorite photograph of the Watchtower backlit by the sunshine, towering over us as the Watchtower stands tall, like a sentinal watching the Grand Canyon.

The structure is amazing.

This is a photo of Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie at work in the Watchtower when it was created. In this photo he is painting the Snake Legend, just one of the many murals he painted that you see in the above photo's and those below.

Looking up through the 1st and 2nd parapets of the Watchtower to the ceiling painted by Hopi Artist, Fred Kabotie.

As you leave the watchtower area this view of the San Francisco Peaks opens up between the trees. It is a gorgeous mountain that overlooks the Grand Canyon area.

Humphreys Peak is the tallest point you see in this picture. It is 12,633 feet high. It is part of the San Francisco Peaks, a mountain range which were once active volcano's. They were formed in the past six million years, and the last known volcanic activity was around 1000 years ago.

The Hopi Indians (modern spiritual descendants of the ancient Pueblo Indians that once inhabited the Grand Canyon) view these mountains spiritually. They believe they are the dwelling place of their ancestral spirits, the Kachinas.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by to learn a few facts about visiting the Grand Canyon, I really appreciate you! Please drop a note below so that I know you were here.

Thank you,

Linda