La Junta tribune., 1915-03-27
GRAND CANYON OF COLORADO.
Mere Words Convey but Faint In,-
precision Of Beauty and Gran.
deur Of CauyOa.

e~oskSA SA AAsy AASAAOhys oa4 Wnk
never be entirely effaced. yet have
little hope Of being able to give the
Tribune readers description which
will convey very clear idea Of what
II Is like. This Is hard enough to
do when dealing with an ordinary
landscape. but here is something
very much out of the ordinary and
so far as am able to learn those
who see 1t testify that the descrip-,
tions read by them have failed to
convey but faint impression Of its
beauty and grandeur. II is likely
there are two reasons for this. In
the first place mere words. although
framed by a master mind. do not
convey to the average person impress
sinos Of beauty. symmetry or gran
deur. like actual contact. and In the
second place there Is nothing to
which thee anyon can be compared.
for II is In class by itself.
A prominent writer. q fcw years
ago. begins an account Of his visit
to the Grand Canyon by saying that
anyone who tries TO describe It
should first take . special literary
course and practice 4 year or two
on something easy-like the Matter
horn; sunrise on Risi. or the Yo-
semitic Valley. He then gives an in
teresting account Of his visit-ths
mile ride into the Canyon. the ho-
tells. and 80 forth. but leaves q de-
scription Of the canyons beauties
entirely out.
The canyon lies In plateas.
whose elevation Is 1000 feet. Some
tltantic force Of nature has split the
ground opsn 70 . depth OF 5000
feet. through which the Colorado
river has found a channel 70 Tie
go Al the point . the rim steqB
the fsiiread Nbstngs you from WI
liaeas. . distance ef sixty y-four miiss.
the width Of the, cahyoh IL thirteea
miles. II would take thistesn miles
Of wire to stretch from rin I'd rim.
and ~ the wire was drawn taut. like
fiddle string. 4 plumb line from
Il down TO the river would have 10
be over 5000 feet long to reach the
water. The Eiffei Tower In Paris.
is one thousand feet high-the
highest structure ever erected by
nan--but II would take five Of
these towers. one on top Of tho
other. 10 extend the same height.
The Grand Canyon Is Ell miles
long and has an average width OF
ten miles. Here then are 1900
square miles Of scenery down In .
chasm. u mile deep. every portion OF
which II N rocky. precipitous and
inoutainous ~. the average square
mile Of territory known as Pixies
Peak. Considerihg the size Of 20
fast nm area. there are very few
gateways into II. for but three trails
lead down TO the river In a stretch
Of forty miles-one Of these. tho
best known. being the Bright Angel
Trail. which ] desccnded. This
trail gets It's name from Bright An
gel Creek. on the opposite side.
which was named by Major Powcil
In his perilous passage by boat
through the Canyon In 1859. A.
the time Of my visit. Northern Ari.
soma was covered with blanket Of
snow foot deep. and At the Canyon
the snow extended down about 1900
feet below the rim. The average
tourist. who rides 10 the Canyon 10
Pullman. does not 70 any further
than the rim. At least. out Of our
train Of ten cars. there were not
more than fifteen or twenty who
went very far down the trail. This
might have been owing 10 the snow.
or the scarcity Of mules. or both.
but neither Of these kept ~. Mrs.
Phillips and !. from soias down =.
SEQ feet on foot We started at >
.. -. and got baek q : ,. D.. hav.
ING travelled fosr or five miles Of
about - tertuoss aaA slippery .
trail you can we'll inssine. It
takes nins hours. On Q god strosg
mule. 70 70 - ths bottom aAd back.
over tail that eas nsvss b - Coz.
stsuetsd. beeauee q ~ cost, - -.
c000odaes aaythlog bleGos thaa .
mule. TIE eass.1evlas oeuSisl who
waits Tor . waeoa. sule0sells. -
tfsla q eass % sassy hin ~ ~ ~.
ton. vii ~ - ell whsa Tat ~
arrives that netAusalah Woul1 ~
youns ID eo0pas0soo.
! havs mentioned ~ enew -
esallAg 1eoo foet ~ ~ oaayo0,
tut - eell ~ Gnov novoe sooennD
~ ooe1o0. yeo ~ ~ -