188 SADDLE AND CAMP 



an observed point that appears very near at 

 hand, but frequently hours of steady plodding 

 will be consumed before the point is reached. 



Echo Cliffs finally turn sharply to the north- 

 east, to be lost in a great mass of red, yellow, 

 and gray peaks through which the Colorado 

 winds its way, to the point where the Vermilion 

 Cliffs on the north side of the river have their 

 beginning. Deep down among these peaks lies 

 Lee's Ferry. Bitter Spring is near the bend in 

 Echo Cliffs. We did not stop here, but did 

 halt at Navajo Springs, which were reached 

 early in the forenoon of the third day from 

 Tuba. Onward from Navajo Springs our 

 course was up and down across deep gulches, 

 until near midday we encountered the mass of 

 broken mountain peaks and the Colorado 

 River. 



The old emigrant trail led around and 

 through a pass by a circuitous route to the 

 ferry, but a new and shorter trail has been cut 

 along the edge of a cliff and several hundred 

 feet above the river which washes the cliff's 

 base. This we followed, with rocks hanging 

 high above us and an almost perpendicular 

 drop to the water below. I was mounted on 

 Shorty and was exceedingly glad when we be- 

 gan our descent to the ferry, for I never knew 



