bighorn sheep at Mallery’s Grotto
These photos are from a handful of day hikes in early October along the Bright Angel Trail. One of the objectives of these hikes was to find a set of pictographs near the 1.5-mile resthouse. I already knew about the markings at Mallery’s Grotto, but this lower set had eluded me for some time. Finally I received some good directions and found them.
from the location of the second set of pictographs
After the 1.5-mile resthouse, there’s a long continuous stretch of trail without any switchbacks. When you finally do reach a switchback, that spot is called the two-mile turn. These pictographs are on the lower part of a large, prominent, triangular-shaped boulder that sticks up like a tooth, about 50 yards before (When going down the trail) the two-mile turn. The rock can be seen with the naked eye from Indian Gardens, so I surmise that it must have been some sort of directional landmark, 800-1,000 years ago.
handprints!
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One day I took a little side trip along the top of the Coconino Sandstone, seen in the above picture. At the end of the very first switchback on the Bright Angel Trail, there’s a distinct path that leads away from the main trail – all I did was follow it. The path goes along the Toroweap Formation at the top of the Coconino directly below Trailview Overlook, toward the point above the Battleship. I followed this route until the exposure became a bit too much for me, and turned around.
probably the most interesting thing that I saw along this route
at the base of the Kaibab Limestone
Looking down at the 3-mile resthouse at the top of the redwall – this route afforded great views of the entire upper Bright Angel Trail, as I sat in solitude and watched the tiny hikers amble back and forth.
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Finally, this last set of photos depicts maybe the greatest stroke of luck in all my hikes at Grand Canyon, as far as being in the right place at the right time. The area near the first tunnel was crawling with bighorn sheep, seemingly guarding Mallery’s Grotto.
As if that wasn’t enough, a male with large horns and a very young one were literally stuck on the promontory that juts out from the first tunnel. A lot of people stopped to watch and take pictures, and the sheep just could not seem to find their way off of this rock.
