EXPERIENCES IX THE GRAND CAXYOX 



115 



ordinary person would care to tackle in 

 one day. 



NO ROYAI, ROAD 



There is no royal road for the person 

 who would explore the canyon's hidden 

 secrets. Enthusiasm in unlimited quan- 

 tities is a most needful qualification — en- 

 thusiasm in spite of discomfort, fatigue, 

 and toil — all to gain what may be a 

 doubtful goal. Looking back over our 

 12 years of experience at our work, we 

 do not remember having ever made an 

 easy trip in the canyons, unless we 

 counted those made down the Bright 

 Angel trail, beside our home, and we do 

 not count those, for they can easily be 

 done in one day. 



After having satisfied ourselves with 

 the beauties of Havasu (Cataract Creek), 

 we prepared to return. We left the 

 agency about noon. A cold wind was 

 blowing up the canyon and it was raining 

 a little. On top we coula see that it was 

 snow instead of rain. We had no desire 

 to make the homeward trip through a 

 snow-storm, as we were ill prepared for 

 cold weather at that time of the year. 



By the time we had climbed the 15 

 miles of trail it was quite dark, and 5 or 

 6 inches of snow, very wet and heavy, 

 had fallen. The burros would have all 

 the water they needed this trip. We 

 imagined that if we could get away from 

 the rim — as the canyon's edge is usually 

 termed — that we might get out of the 

 storm belt, for often these storms hover 

 over the gorge and spread back but a 

 short distance. It was 10 p. m. when we 

 stopped — we could hardly say camped. 

 The snow did thin out some, but still 

 there was plenty, and the ground was 

 very wet. We had been enjoying a 

 month of fine weather previous to this 

 trip, and a snowstorm that late in the 

 season was entirely unexpected. There 

 were no sheltering rocks; our two blan- 

 kets made a verv poor bed, and we slept 

 but little that night. 



On the following day, were it not for 

 the storm we might have made a detour 

 to the Bass, or Mystic Springs, trail, as 

 we did on a later occasion. Three or 

 four miles up this trail, which is one of 



the wonderful parts of the canyon, a 

 great boulder, loosened from above, has 

 fallen into a side canyon and lodged 

 there close to the top (see page 106) — 

 just one of the many things that go to 

 make this section of the country some- 

 thing entirely out of the ordinary. 



STORM AND ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS IN THE 

 GRAND CANYON 



We walked most of the 30 miles cov- 

 ered the next day, for the roads were 

 slippery and difficult for the animals; 

 also it was the only way we could keep 

 warm. It was nearly midnight when we 

 reached home and hurriedly pulled the 

 packs from the burros. 



The pleasurable thrills we experienced 

 the following day when we developed our 

 plates more than made up for any dis- 

 comfort we may have experienced. More 

 than that, the great amount of moisture 

 in the atmosphere had formed into clouds 

 which collected in the canyon a thousand 

 feet below the rim, filling it from bank to 

 bank. It was a rare and wonderful sight. 

 The rising sun tinting the tops of the bil- 

 lows made it look not unlike the whirl- 

 pool of Niagara, but on an immense 

 scale. These clouds hung in a laver or 

 stratum about 400 feet thick; above the 

 clouds everything dazzled in the sun- 

 light; underneath it was a cloudy day. 

 About noon the clouds became heated ; 

 they rose and disappeared, collecting 

 again on the following night (see pages 

 109 and 114). 



These storm and cloud effects of the 

 spring form some of the most interest- 

 ing phases under which the canyon can 

 be seen. A few hours after the sun 

 comes up every vestige of the snow has 

 disappeared ; in two or three days the 

 clouds lift and vanish, leaving a clear, 

 blue sky. destitute of every vestige of a 

 cloud. Even in midwinter much the 

 same condition holds true. 



It is not often that the snow descends 

 below the inner plateau, as it is changed 

 to rain as it drops to the lower altitudes. 

 On rare occasions it has fallen to the 

 river itself. The nights at such times 

 are quite cold on top, the thermometer 

 tarrying somewhere near the zero mark. 



