MIDDLE REACHES OF CATARACT CREEK 



The creek bursts from the rocky canon floor in full magnificence, winds its way through the curves 

 of the gorge, and rushes on to join the Colorado River. Occasional cloudbursts on the high plateau 

 above pour their waters over the cliffs to swell the creek. It then becomes a torrent, filling the 

 canon and taking everything in its path. The Indians rely on this creek for irrigating their crops, 

 as in Arizona rains are always infrequent and usually torrential 



wall, completely cutting off the 

 direct descent. A quick turn to the 

 right, however, allows us to follow the 

 trail out on to a narrow ledge hardly 

 wide enough for the passage of our 

 horses. Back and forth the trail winds, 

 following the folds of the rock wall^ 

 638 



here running out to pass a promontory, 

 there returning into a cleft. To us, 

 looking back, the horsemen appeared 

 like tiny beads threaded on the ledge 

 tliat suspended them in mid-air — al- 

 ways clinging to the face of the cliff 

 which towers overhead close on the one 



