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J. W. Powell - Canyons of the Colorado
the walls at Flaming Gorge is 1,300 feet above the river. The east wall at the apex of Horseshoe Canyon
is about 1,600 feet above the water's edge, and from this point the walls slope both to the head and foot
of the canyon.
Kingfisher Canyon, starting at the water's edge above, steadily increases in altitude to 1,200 feet at the
foot.
Red Canyon is 25 2/3 miles long, and the highest walls are about 2,500 feet.
Brown's Park is a valley, bounded on either side by a mountain range, really an expansion of the canyon.
The river, through the park, is 35 1/2 miles long, but passes through two short canyons on its way, where
spurs from the mountains on the south are thrust across its course.
CHAPTER VII. THE CANYON OF LODORE.
June 8. - We enter the canyon, and until noon find a succession of rapids, over which, our boats
have to be taken. Here I must explain our method of proceeding at such places. The "Emma Dean "'goes
in advance; the other boats follow, in obedience to signals. When we approach a rapid, or what on other
rivers would often be called a fall, I stand on deck to examine it, while the oarsmen back water, and we
drift on as slowly as possible. If I can see a clear chute between the rocks, away we go; but if the channel
is beset entirely across, we signal the other boats, pull to land, and I walk along the shore for closer
examination. If this reveals no clear channel, hard work begins. We drop the boats to the very head of the
dangerous place and let them over by lines or make a portage, frequently carrying both boats and cargoes
over the rocks.
The waves caused by such falls in a river differ much from the waves of the sea. The water of an ocean
wave merely rises and falls; the form only passes on, and form chases form unceasingly. A body floating
on such waves merely rises and sinks - does not progress unless impelled by wind or some other power.
But here the water of the wave passes on while the form remains. The waters plunge down ten or twenty
feet to the foot of a fall, spring up again in a great wave, then down and up in a series of billows that
gradually disappear in the more quiet waters below; but these waves are always there, and one can stand
above and count them.
A boat riding such billows leaps and plunges along with great velocity. Now, the difficulty in riding over
these falls, when no rocks are in the way, is with the first wave at the foot. This will sometimes gather for
a moment, heap up higher and higher, and then break back.
If the boat strikes it the instant after it breaks, she cuts through, and the mad breaker dashes its spray over
the boat and washes overboard all who do not cling tightly. If the boat, in going over the falls, chances to
get caught in some side current and is turned from its course, so as to strike the wave "broadside
on," and the wave breaks at the same instant, the boat is capsized; then we must cling to her, for the
water-tight compartments act as buoys and she cannot sink; and so we go, dragged through the waves,
until still waters are reached, when we right the boat and climb aboard. We have several such
experiences to-day.
At night we camp on the right bank, on a little shelving rock between the river and the foot of the cliff;
and with night comes gloom into these great depths. After supper we sit by our camp fire, made of
driftwood caught by the rocks, and tell stories of wild life; for the men have seen such in the mountains
or on the plains, and on the battlefields of the South. It is late before we spread our blankets on the beach.
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