The mirror., 1921-08-25
TRIP THROUGH ARIZONA DESERT
Continued from page u

preparation.
Now for the climb up the Bright Angel
Trail. Oh, you Devils Corkscrew! Oh,
you Jacobs Ladder! AS I have said be-
fore, Mandy was some mule and could do
the reverse as well as the pivot down and
when she rammed her head against the
wall and started to pivot up, I started to
lay down and as I rested my face in
Mandy's short name, who cares if my
arms were about her neck? Mandy and
l were Canyon mates We were on the
trip together and it was my job to see that
we stayed together for Mandy had wait
ing for her at the top good big feed of
grain and she was bound to get there.
What wonderful invention would be a
pair of breeches made of fly paper with
the paperrinside.
We reached the top tired but happy,
satisfied that we had done our best to see
the Canyon in all of its various moods.
Biologists say there was at one time at
least $4,000 feet of sedimentary rock above
the present rim which has eroded and
been washed away. The erosion goes on
each year, the river digs deeper and the
Canyon grows wider. Sometime there
will be great fertile valley here with
placid river winding its way slowly to the
sea. Don't worry, you have plenty of
time as the fertile valley is some millions
of years away.
Our next stop was at Flagstaff. The
day was proftably spent in trip through
Walnut Canyon, a comparative small
cash in the mountains but wonderfully
rich in historic interest as here the Cliff
Dwellers of ages long ago built their
homes on inaccessible platforms of jutting
rock or in caves followed out from be-
tween the harder material above and
below.
Many of the ruins may be visited as an
easy path leads down side gulch to the
level of the ruins. There are, however,
other ruins that one could only reach with
the aid of ladder from below or rope
from above and then only at great risk.
As for location and scattered homes, they
were the most interesting ruins that we
saw on our entire trip. Here the Cliff
Dwellers lived in isolated places, there
being no large group or village. The
whole district is small, yet contains many
ruins.
We visited the bottomless pit, hole in
the ground leading no one knows where
subject for thrilling tales of disappearance
of which the natives relate plenty.
Sunset Mountain, with its cup-shaped
top rising 1000 feet above lava and Gin
der covered plain, red colored mountain,
once an active volcano. Now you may
find an ice cave at its base where visitors
leave their lunch while they climb to the
top. A real ice cave with real ice in it.
AS you walk down into the cave, it is like
walking into an ice house and you are
soon chilled and satisfied that it is no
place for you there even if the temperature
is near the 100 degrees mark outside.
We retire early, as it is our intention to
get an early start for the final and great
objective of our trip. We are thrilled
with excitement over what we have seen
and fear that the balance of our trip will
only be repetition of what we have al
ready passed through. How thoroughly
were these thoughts to be dispelled.
In the early morning, after a hasty
breakfast all arrangements having been
made, we start on our 100 mile automobile
ride over mountains and desert into the
heart of the Navajo Indian Reservation to
Kayenta, Navajo County, Arizona. Loaded
with with extra tanks of water, gasoline
and oil we pass out of Flagstaff around
the San Francisco Triple Peaks over the
painted desert to the real desert of drifted
sands beyond.