Bright Angel Hotel
The Bright Angel Hotel is managed by Mr. M. Buggeln, who also controls the stage line, trail stock, guides, etc. The hotel comprises a combination log and frame structure of eight rooms, with three frame annexes containing forty-six sleeping rooms, and (for summer use) several rows of tents, all clustered on the rim and surrounded by pines and spruces. Each room in the annexes has one or two beds, a stove, dressing table, and Navajo rugs. In the log-cabin part of the main edifice are two large rooms. One is used for reception purposes, being warmed by means of an old-fashioned fireplace and tastefully carpeted with Indian rugs, also furnished with capacious rocking chairs and a piano; the other of these two rooms is for the office.
Good meals are prepared by expert cooks and served in a pleasant dining-room. In a word, the hotel facilities are good, far better than one might expect to find for the reasonable rate charged. There is no “roughing it”; everything is homelike and comfortable. One must not, however, expect all the city luxuries. A telephone and telegraph line directly connects the hotel with the outer world at Williams.
Note.—A fine modern hotel of fifty rooms, with cottage annexes, to be known as Bright Angel Tavern, will be built in this vicinity during 1903 and managed by Mr. Fred Harvey. It will be a permanent affair and will provide all the latest conveniences.
While one ought to remain at least a week, a stop-over of three days from the transcontinental trip will allow practically two days at the canyon. One full day should be devoted to an excursion down Bright Angel Trail, and the other to walks and drives along the rim. Another day on the rim—making a four-days’ stop-over in all—will enable visitors to get more satisfactory views of this stupendous wonder.
Down Bright Angel Trail
The trail here is perfectly safe and is generally open the year round. In midwinter it is liable to be closed for a few days at the top by snow, but such blockade is only temporary. It reaches from the hotel four miles to the top of the granite wall immediately overlooking the Colorado River. At this point the river is 1,200 feet below, while the hotel on the rim is 4,300 feet above. The trip is commonly made on horseback, accompanied by a guide; charges for trail stock and services of guide are moderate. A strong person, accustomed to mountain climbing, can make the round trip on foot in one day, by starting early enough; but the average traveler will soon discover that a horse is a necessity, especially for the upward climb.
Eight hours are required for going down and coming back, allowing two hours for lunch, rest, and sight-seeing. Those wishing to reach the river leave the main trail at Indian Garden Spring and follow the downward course of Willow and Pipe creeks. Owing to the abrupt descent from this point, part of the side trail must be traversed on foot. Provision is made for those wishing to camp out at night on the river’s edge.
The famous guide, John Hance, is now located at Bright Angel.