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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ther prospecting. The Mormons have 

 many tales of the nuggets of gold that 

 John D. Lee brought from his hiding 

 place in the canyons, and even today the 

 hunt goes on for this mine, which may or 

 may not exist. Our interest in the early 

 history of this trail is merely passing; 

 what did interest us was the fact that we 

 had been told that it was still possible to 

 get animals over the trail, and even to 

 follow up the gorge itself to the mouth 

 of the Little Colorado. 



So thither we went one day in May, 

 for we had heard rumors of photographic 

 possibilities in that section ; besides, we 

 needed a change, and we- always look on 

 these journeys, hard as they usually are, 

 in the light of a vacation. 



viewe;d from thk canyon edge 



Before descending the trail we skirted 

 the edge of the canyon to a vantage point 

 known as Desert View. What a stupen- 

 dous view it was ! Owing to a bend in 

 the gorge, there is more of the Grand 

 Canyon visible from this point than from 

 any other single view. 



Far to the west we could see the top 

 of the canyon wall where it makes its 

 northern turn close to Havasu Canyon. 

 Seventy miles of river lay coiled up in 

 that* one view^ yet so fully was it hidden 

 that we only caught a glimpse or two 

 directly in front of us. Still beyond 

 that farthest wall were the volcanic cones 

 of ^It. Trumbull, Mt. Dellenbaugh, and 

 others. Directly across the canyon was 

 Cape Final, the extreme end of Green- 

 land Point, that 20-mile-long peninsula 

 which extends into the canyon from the 

 north. To our right we could look into 

 the very mouth of the Grand Canyon, 

 and on past into Marble Canyon as well. 

 Over to the southeast, and considerably 

 below us, stretched the Painted Desert, 

 brighter in color than the canyon itself, 

 slashed through with the deep, narrow 

 gorge of the Little Colorado. Beyond 

 that stretched the Vermilion Cliffs, the 

 wonderful fault or fold which crosses 

 the Colorado River^visible from this 

 point even to the head of Marble Can- 

 yon — while farther yet, 120 miles away, 

 Navajo Mountain raised its rounded 

 dome above the desert. The Coconino 



forest to the south ended only when the 

 San Francisco peaks hid them from view. 



The mere cataloguing of figures, how- 

 ever, gives no idea of the canyon. No 

 description will make another see the 

 subtle, elusive colors, as they shift and 

 change with each hour of the day ; no 

 word picture will make another feel the 

 dizzy heights, the sublimity, and the 

 grandeur of it all. 



On returning to the trail, after cach- 

 ing some of our provisions under a rock 

 to save unnecessary packing, we each 

 placed a 25-pound pack on our own 

 backs, and with our bedding and provis- 

 ions on Jennie, w^e set off down the trail. 

 The upper wall of limestone, seldom very 

 precipitous, was soon above us ; the 

 cross-bedded sandstone, which usually 

 presents an unbroken face over 400 feet 

 high, was broken here, so that it was no 

 more difficult than the wall above it. 



ROCK FORMATIONS 



The rock formations in all parts of the 

 Grand Canyon down to the inner plateau 

 are almost identical. The two forma- 

 tions already mentioned have an ap- 

 proximate width of 1,000 feet, the upper 

 slope being covered with scrubby trees, 

 cedar, and pinon pine wherever they can 

 find a footing. These walls vary in color 

 from a chalky white to a rich cream or 

 buff. Next in order comes the red sand- 

 stone, a sloping wall of rock over 1,000 

 feet in thickness. This wall is seldom 

 very difficult to climb. 



Of similar color on the surface is the 

 next drop, a sheer wall of limestone, 

 about 700 feet thick, and the hardest for- 

 mation in the canyon. The red color in 

 this limestone is only a stain from the 

 sandstone above, and when broken it has 

 a light-blue tint. Major Powell called this 

 the marble wall, for he found it changed 

 to marble in certain sections of the can- 

 yon which bears that name. This wall 

 and the cross-bedded sandstone above 

 are the two formations which present a 

 problem to the climber or trail builder. 

 In nearly every case where there is a 

 trail the builders have taken advantage 

 of a fault or displacement of rock ; but 

 these faults are few and widely sepa- 

 rated. 



