Saddling Up at the Grand Canyon

The mules still clomp down the hill, tourists fidgeting in their saddles. The Kolb studio, grown to a five-story structure, still stands with an odd, smallish window on its west wall, facing the trail. For more than 65 years, that's where the photographer, usually Emery Kolb, snapped the group shot of the mule riders, including former President Teddy Roosevelt and his group in Instead of letting somebody frame the canyon for us with a piece of pricey equipment, we can do it ourselves — if only that guy with the selfie stick would move a few feet.

Over our four days at the canyon in March, we spent lots of time dodging selfie sticks, thinking about image makers and chasing images ourselves. We rose in bitter-cold darkness to catch sunrises at the Bright Angel trailhead and Mather Point which loses color and gains crowds as the day goes on.

We lingered in a stiff breeze for a Mohave Point sunset, hoping a miracle gap might open in the wall of clouds. We squinted and cheered through a golden sunset at Desert View, where the river is visible at the bottom of the canyon. And we eavesdropped at the mule stables while guides saddled up the morning's riders.

The view was almost paralyzing, and it changed with every step.

As I trudged and lingered, I imagined Emery Kolb, 5 feet, 2 inches and full of cantankerous energy, shouldering past me. Emery was the younger brother. Suran writes that he was shrewd, scrappy and 21 when the business was born. Ellsworth, adventurous and easygoing, was He arrived first, in Because it had the nearest running water, and that's where his rustic darkroom was set up. Once his negatives were processed and prints were made, Kolb would rush back up the trail to beat the returning tourists.

That routine might seem enough to keep a photographer busy. But in the fall and winter of , the Kolbs got hold of an early movie camera and decided to film themselves following the long, death-defying route of John Wesley Powell's first descent of the Colorado River. Spliced together, their footage amounted to the first motion picture showing the Grand Canyon — and it may have kept the company afloat. But the brothers counterpunched. They added an auditorium to their studio and in started screening their movie nightly, with live narration. It was a hit. Ellsworth moved to Los Angeles and sold his share of the business in , but Emery continued to photograph the mule strings through the window and narrate the film nightly.

He lived in the studio building with his wife, Blanche, and their daughter, Edith. Edith grew up and Blanche died in , but Emery stayed at it. As late as , at 88, he was still shooting two mule strings a day. By late , when Emery died at age 95, the film had been running nightly for more than 60 years, and Kolb had photographed an estimated 50, mule strings. Meanwhile, the cliff-clinging Kolb building had surpassed 50 years of age, which officially made it part of Grand Canyon history. Now the Grand Canyon Assn.

The old auditorium is filled with an exhibition on the Kolbs. Its private residential rooms are "too delicate" for frequent tours, studio manager Robb Seftar said, but he was willing to show me around, including the room with the view where Emery Kolb often lay in his last months and the little window where he used to take the mule-string shots. We also prowled around the adjacent darkroom, built to succeed the one at Indian Garden. It was still full of the photographer's tools.

This a strange thing to admit after four days in panoramaland, but the Grand Canyon location that lingers most vividly in my senses today is the little window and the cramped, viewless darkroom where Kolb framed the canyon for so many American travelers. At least 40 years after the old man developed his last picture, it still smells of fixer.

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Water and wind begin to deepen a crevice that will become the route of the Colorado River. Those forces eventually will carve a nearly mile-long canyon up to a mile deep and 18 miles wide. Somebody leaves artifacts that will later be found by scientists. An exploratory party from Mexico, led by Capt.

An expedition led by Maj. John Wesley Powell makes the first successful boat trip through the canyon. Pioneers from the eastern U. This will go on for about 25 years before he is shouldered aside by the National Park Service. With Cameron as their landlord, brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb expand their photography studio from a tent cabin to a building by the Bright Angel trailhead.

Their still and motion-picture images of mule-riding tourists and the rushing river help popularize the location. Harvey has Mary Colter design Hopi House. National Geographic magazine's August issue includes 85 pages on the Kolb brothers and the canyon.

About this time, Ellsworth Kolb moves to Los Angeles, leaving his brother to steer the business for more than 70 years. The canyon is named a national park. It draws 44, visitors in its first year. The Grand Canyon Lodge is built on the north rim of the canyon, burns down in , is rebuilt in Civilian Conservation Corps workers improve the Bright Angel Trail and several others, build stone walls along the village section of the South Rim, and run a telephone line between the South and North rims. The planes collide over the canyon, killing people. President Eisenhower moves to strengthen air traffic regulation nationwide.

The Grand Canyon gets about 5 million visitors yearly. National Park Service, http: On a chilly morning near the Grand Canyon's busy Bright Angel trailhead, a man with muddy boots, cowboy hat, bulging cheek and drooping mustache fixed his gaze on a handful of nervously smiling tourists. The tourists nodded, eyeing the mules behind him.

They had signed up for the ride to Phantom Ranch. Every day as many as 10 riders join guides on a journey down 10 miles of narrow trail to the canyon floor, about 4, feet below. Usually, the group sleeps at the ranch and ascends the next day on South Kaibab Trail. Three times a day the bell outside the canteen would ring and guests and staff would gather for vittles — western fare including breakfast pancakes and steak in the evening.

For dessert, JP, the ranch owner, would dole out slabs of homemade pecan or strawberry pie. The guest rooms were spacious — our group had a two-bedroom cabin with a shared lounge. All rooms accommodate disabled guests, there are wet rooms or tubs with handrails, and a step-free environment throughout. The small swimming pool had a hoist, and there was a rail leading down into the hot tub. Over the course of the week I sang a lot of cowboy songs.

1. ;
2. Bob Cornelius (Author of Saddling Up at the Grand Canyon).
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6. The Bad People Stole My God?

One day, to the melody of Streets of Laredo, we rode into the foothills of the Mojave mountains, following stony trails past cartoonish Saguaro cacti. We stopped in a gully for a sandwich and I dismounted using the well-known technique of collapsing into friendly arms. Dignity at all times. Our rented SUV was fitted with hand-controls, so I drove us all along the southern rim of the Grand Canyon on a mile day trip rather than scramble on and off the tour buses. At the end of our last full day at Stagecoach Trails, the Rough Riders — our new gang name — rode out as the sun eased down over the mountains.

We felt on top of the world in our hats, bandanas and cowboy work shirts — though I knew that 30 hours later at Gatwick we would look completely ridiculous. This non-profit organisation also offers activities such as rafting and dogsledding. One September, I canoed through the sea caves of Lake Superior and recall excellent food and company — and snow.

I failed to take enough warm clothes or a thick-enough camping mat.

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For horseriding adventures elsewhere in the US, visit duderanch. In the UK, the Calvert Trust calvert-trust.

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The Back-Up Trust backuptrust. Sit-skiing is its forte it runs a winter trip to Colorado , but it also runs multi-activity trips, with kayaking, abseiling and archery among others.



The Scuba Trust scubatrust. Several schools, particularly on the Red Sea, are waking up to the growing demand for accessible scuba diving. The Jubilee Sailing Trust jst. Both vessels are accessible and its permanent crew is supplemented by 40 trainees, many of whom may have disabilities. You can sign on for a single trip between ports or take on the whole voyage. Funding for berths may be available.

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