" In the
afternoon they continued to come--an endless succession of small
rapids, with here and there a larger one. The canyon was similar to
that at our camp above, dark red walls with occasional pines on the
ledges,--a most charming combination of colour. At 2.30 P.M. we
reached Ashley Falls, a rapid we had been expecting to see for some
time. It was a place of singular beauty. A dozen immense rocks had
fallen from the cliff on the left, almost completely blocking the
channel--or so it seemed from one point of view. But there was a
crooked channel, not more than twelve wide in places, through which
the water shot like a stream from a nozzle.
We wanted a motion picture of our dash through the chute. But the
location for the camera was hard to secure, for a sheer bank of rock
or low wall prevented us from climbing out on the right side. We
overcame this by landing on a little bank at the base of the wall and
by dropping a boat down with a line to the head of the rapid where a
break occurred in the wall. Jimmy was left with the camera, the boat
was pulled back, and we prepared to run the rapid.
We first had to pass between two square rocks rising eight feet above
the water so close together that we could not use the oars; then, when
past these, pull ten feet to the right in order to clear the large
rock at the end of the main dam, or barrier, not more than twenty feet
below. To pull down bow first and try to make the turn, would mean to
smash broadside against this rock.
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