In Glen Canyon, Five Minutes from Echo Mountain House.
As the road finally swings around into Grand Canyon, the character of the scenery changes and the vistas of valley, plain and ocean are shut out. All hint of the habitation of man is gone, and one realizes a sense of the solitude of Nature. The vastness of surrounding mountains and the great canyons impresses itself on the mind and one feels that the only thing which connects him with the abode of man is the frail wire which pulsates with that mysterious power which is doing so much of man's drudgery.
The terminus of the track, at "Ye Alpine Tavern," is 5,000 feet above sea level, at the head of Grand Canyon, and from that point the summit of Mount Lowe can be seen, towering eleven hundred feet above. A short and enjoyable walk brings one to Inspiration Point, from which the Observatory and buildings on Echo Mountain are seen as the play houses of children, so far are they away; and the orange orchards and vineyards and green grain fields in the valley resemble the variegated patchwork upon the old-time bed-quilts. To those who from here desire to ascend to the summit of Mount Lowe, a wide and safe bridle road offers the opportunity of an exhilarating ride up the mountain side, from whence a greater variety of views are obtained of distant mountain ranges, extensive plains and broad expanses of sea.
Approaching Grand Circular Bridge, From Head of Millard Canyon, Mount Lowe Railway.
People go many miles, pay large railroad fares and spend much time to visit Watkins Glen and Ausable Chasm, New York. At Mount Lowe the scenery is an hundred-fold more grand, the canyons deeper than the highest peaks of hills which are dignified with the name of mountains in New York, and yet the expense of reaching Mount Lowe is but a fraction of what is charged there; no charge is made for guides; the time necessary to make the trip is much less, and the hotel accommodations very much superior.
[The Circular Bridge.]
Bridge builders, as a rule, build upon a tangent, and are very particular to have the floor upon a dead level. The reason that these two conditions are thought necessary is to avoid too much strain upon the structure, and in building railroads they are generally looked upon as absolutely necessary. Where the conditions are such as to admit of such construction it is undoubtedly the part of wisdom to follow the beaten path, but occasionally such a course would either largely increase the expense, or, as in the construction of the Mount Lowe Railway, stop further progress. Such a dilemma was thrice presented in the construction of the Mount Lowe Railway. First in the numerous bridges along the lower portion of the route, in Rubio Canyon; again in building the Great Cable Incline, and lastly on the Alpine division, where it became necessary to build a circular bridge in order to get a proper grade.
