A GRAND CANYON TRIP FROM 2007

These photos were taken during a trip we took in 2007. The Grand Canyon was actually the last stop as we were flying home a couple of days later.  We had flown to Las Vegas originally, and rented a car.  This building is called The Watchtower at Desert View. It was opened in 1933. Below is the inside of the gift shop. I read that the gift shop was removed in January of 2015. You can see a great photo of the empty space on this website if you scroll down, click here. I have repeated the link above the photo of Hopi artist Fred Kaboti further below.Hired in 1930, Mary Coulter drew the design and handpicked every stone for size and appearance. You can read more about its history here. This is outside of the gift shop.I found this interesting story online about the Hopi's first journey through the Grand Canyon. You can read it here.

Several fine artists were commissioned to paint murals inside the walls of the Tower, which is 67 feet high and 30 feet in diameter at the base. I didn't actually go inside the tower that day. I seem to remember it was closed. You can see the history of the watchtower at this link.

The above shows Hopi artist Fred Kaboti, whose contribution was the Snake Legend. If you are interested I found a website here telling the story of this legend. It is lengthy but a good read.

The Raven landed behind the bench I was sitting on. He stayed long enough for these photos.

 My photos don't do these magnificent views justice. 

On the left side of the photo, you can see the flat topped Cedar Mountain, which is just outside of the Grand Canyon.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!