But we did
not portage this boat. A good night's rest, and the safeguard of a
boat at the bottom of the plunge made it look much less dangerous, and
five minutes after breakfast was finished, this boat was beside its
mate, and we had a reel of film which we hoped would show just how we
successfully ran this difficult rapid. While going over the second
section, on the opposite side of the river, Emery was thrown out of
his boat for an instant when the _Edith_ touched a rock in a
twenty-five mile an hour current, similar to my first upset in the
Soap Creek Rapid--the old story: out again; in again; on
again--landing in safety at the end of the rapid not one whit the
worse for the spill.
This rapid marks the place where the granite, or igneous rock,
intrudes, rising at a sharp angle, sloping upward down the stream,
reaching the height of 1300 feet about one mile below. It marks the
end of the large deposit of algonkian. The granite, when it attains
its highest point, is covered with a 200-foot layer of sedimentary
rock called the tonto sandstone. The top of this formation is exposed
by a plateau from a quarter of a mile to three miles in width, on
either side of the granite gorge; the same walls which were found in
Marble Canyon rise above this. The temples which are scattered through
the canyon--equal in height, in many cases, to the walls--have their
foundation on this plateau. These peaks contain the same stratified
rock with a uniform thickness whether in peak or wall, with little
displacement and little sign of violent uplift, nearly all this canyon
being the work of erosion: 5000 feet from the rim to the river; the
edges of six great layers of sedimentary rock laid bare and with a
narrow 1300-foot gorge through the igneous rock below--the Grand
Canyon of Arizona.
Pages:
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208