The Ridge Road is a species of boulevard recently constructed for the use of visitors to Manitou.  At places the grade is so abrupt that timid ladies do not care to drive down it.  Otherwise it is a very pleasing thoroughfare, with fresh surprises and delights awaiting the tourist every time he passes along it.  The view in every direction is most charming and extensive.  Pike’s Peak can be seen to great advantage, and in the forty miles of the road many different features of this mountain can be observed.  The road also leads to William’s Canon.

Cheyenne Mountain, although dwarfed somewhat by Pike’s Peak, is deserving of notice.  It is very massive in its form, and its sides are almost covered by canons, brooklets and waterfalls.  Two vast gorges, know as the North and South Canons, are especially asked for by visitors.  The walls of these gorges are of rich granite, and stand perpendicular on each side a thousand feet high.  The effect is very wonderful in a variety of ways.  In the South Canon are the celebrated Seven Falls, which were immortalized by Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson, the well-known poetess, whose remains were interred on Cheyenne Mountain by her own request.  The Seven Lakes must also be seen by all visitors to the Manitou region, and there are so many more special features to be examined and treasures to be discovered that, no matter how long one stays in the neighborhood, a pang of regret is felt when the visit is brought to a termination.

There are other spots in America where more awful scenes can be encountered.  There are few, however where the combinations are so delightful or the general views so attractive and varying.

CHAPTER XVIII

INTO THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH.

The Grand Canon of the Colorado—­Niagara Outdone—­The Course of the Colorado River—­A Survey Party Through the Canon—­Experiences of a Terrible Night—­Wonderful Contrasts of Color in the Massive Rocks—­A Natural Wall a Thousand Feet High—­Hieroglyphics which have Never been Deciphered—­Relics of a Superior Race—­Conjecture as to the Origin of the Ancient Bearded White Men.

We have already spoken of Niagara as one of the wonders of the world, and one of the most sought-after beauty spots of America.  We will now devote a few pages to a description of a far more remarkable natural wonder and to a phenomenon which, were it situated nearer the center of population, would have long since outclassed even Niagara as a tourist’s Mecca.

Reference is made to the Grand Canon of the Colorado.

Few people have the slightest conception of the magnitude or awfulness of this canon.  It is clearly one of the wonders of the world, and its vastness is such that to explore it from end to end is a work of the greatest possible difficulty.