TALES OF OUR TRAVELS AND OUR LOVE OF ADVENTURE

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Grand Canyon - Desert View

Wednesday, July 18

Knowing we had a short day ahead of us, we enjoyed some coffee and banana muffins for breakfast before hitting the road. We had to go through the eastern part of the park, which took us through the fir/pine forest for miles and miles along the rim. Just before we started out of the fir and pine forest I saw a herd of about 7 javelina!  I've never seen them before in the wild. We stopped at Desert View for a while - the last viewpoint in the park before you hit the East Entrance. There's a tower there, built in 1932 by the Santa Fe Railroad. It has a gift store in the bottom, and you can climb up to the top via several sets of winding stairs (gasp, gasp).


View north up the canyon from the tower

View west from the tower
Looking up at the ceiling of the tower

Murals in the tower are by Hopi painter Fred Kobotie

Looking north from the top of the tower


Looking eastward towards the desert and Cedar Mountain

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