Das Schulzehaus: Grand Canyon

We enjoyed hiking on the South Rim Trail staying "on top". The trails into the Canyon were iced over and only the most experienced hikers were headed down with the ice crampons and walking poles. We did enjoy exploring the Grand Canyon Village and making more snowballs.

This lookout point was the only ledge where we posed because of the rock wall separating the boys from the canyon drop. :)

Visiting the Kolb Brothers' Studio was high on my list. Awesome to imagine these brothers taking photographs in the early 1900's on the top of the rim and on Colorado River expeditions. They built the original house 100 years ago teetering on the edge of the rim. The restored house now serves as a museum to them and their photography expeditions.

Schulze brothers or Kolb brothers?

The Bright Angel Trail was completely iced over much to Henry's disappointment. The afternoon sun on day #2 did melt a portion of the trail near the top. However, our family hike would be impossible to manage. Look at the picture of the shady side of the trail on the second day. It is still covered in ice!

We took a ride around the Village on one of the public shuttle buses. Fun to see the Village covered in snow. There's the vintage Grand Canyon Railroad that brings in visitors from Williams, AZ.

Above the Railroad is our hotel, the El Tovar. It was built over 100 years ago and still retains many original elements. What a treat to stay within footsteps of the Canyon. It looked like a Swiss chalet in the snow and ice!

The first ever Schulze snowman at the Grand Canyon. How unexpected!

We had more time to explore the historic hotels and museum exhibits. Many of the historic buildings were designed by Mary Colter, a female architect active in the Village from 1920 - 1930's.

I loved reading about the Fred Harvey hotels and the Harvey Girls who were recruited from all over the U.S. to work at the tourist properties. There were also the first Southwest tourist "docents" on the Rim and the region in the early 1930 - 1940's. Young, college-educated women with degrees in art history and archaeology were recruited to lead these touring caravans that started at the Grand Canyon. Love that replica of the actual docent uniform on the mannequin. What an interesting life for these young women.