But instead of the roar of a
rapid, a howling wind swept down from the Painted Desert above, piling
the mingled desert sands and river sands about our beds, scattering
our camp material over the bottom of the narrow gorge.
Soon after this camp--the fourth and the last in Marble Canyon--was
left behind us, the walls began to widen out, especially on the
north-northwest, and by noon we had passed from the narrow, direct
canyon, into one with slopes and plateaus breaking the sheer walls,
the wall on the left or southeast side being much the lower of the
two, and more nearly perpendicular, rising to a height of 3200 feet,
while the northwest side lifted up to the Kaibab Plateau, one
point--miles back from the river--rising 6000 feet above us.
We halted at noon beside the Nancoweep Valley. A wide tributary
heading many miles back in the plateau the right, with a ramified
series of canyons running into it, and with great expanses of
sage-covered flats between. Deer tracks were found on these flats,
deer which came down from the forest of the Buckskin Mountains. This
was the point selected by Major Powell for the construction of a trail
when he returned from his voyage of exploration to study the geology
of this section. The trail, although neglected for many years, is
still used by prospectors from Kanab, Utah, who make a yearly trip
into the canyons to do some work on a mineral ledge a few miles below
here.
What a glorious, exhilarating run we had that day! From here to the
end of Marble Canyon the rapids were almost continuous, with few
violent drops and seldom broken by the usual quiet pools.
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