Via Oregon - November/December 2020 - 32

As I head back to my car, a couple who shared my sunrise
vigil still sits comfortably on a stone ledge, wrapped in
down sleeping bags, clutching travel mugs of hot chocolate. Realizing I could use a warm beverage too, I set
out for Hermit's Rest, where a snack bar and gift shop
are housed in a stone building. Architect Mary Colter
designed it to resemble the hideaway of a mythical mountain recluse with authentic pioneer camp details down to
the bell rescued from a New Mexico mission and the fireplace streaked with soot.
But the real reason to make the trek is the chance to
drive Hermit Road, which follows the rim for seven miles
west of Grand Canyon Village. The road is open to private
cars December through February only; it's reserved exclu32

V I A | N OV E M B E R + D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The Lookout Studio sits on a precipice of the
South Rim; viewing scopes along the Rim Trail enable closer looks at distant
rock formations; snow sometimes adorns the train station in the Village,
where the Grand Canyon Railway's Polar Express arrives nightly in season.

sively for shuttle buses the rest of the year. With my own
wheels, I can explore as many sights and trails as I choose,
safely and at my leisure. And I do, stopping to take in the
panoramic vistas at Hopi, Mojave, and Pima Points. At the
Abyss, I risk vertigo to look almost straight down at the
canyon floor and a glittering ribbon of the Colorado River
some 3,000 feet below. Gazing back up at the cerulean sky,
I count myself lucky that my weeklong road trip is corresponding with a spell of clear-if chilly-weather. I've heard
tell of winter fog so thick it obscures the view.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: SCOTT JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY; SUZIE GOTIS / TANDEM STOCK; SNEHA RANEBENNUR

HERMIT ROAD

Via Oregon - November/December 2020

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