STEEP TRAILS 



most impresses us. It is its immense width, 

 sharply defined by precipitous walls plunging 

 suddenly down from a flat plain, declaring in 

 terms instantly apprehended that the vast 

 gulf is a gash in the once imbroken plateau, 

 made by slow, orderly erosion and removal 

 of huge beds of rocks. Other valleys of ero- 

 sion are as great — in all their dimensions 

 some are greater — but none of these produces 

 an effect on the imagination at once so quick 

 and profound, coming without study, given 

 at a glance. Therefore by far the greatest and 

 most influential feature of this view from 

 Bright Angel or any other of the canon views 

 is the opposite wall. Of the one beneath our 

 feet we see only fragmentary sections in cirques 

 and amphitheaters and on the sides of the 

 out-jutting promontories between them, while 

 the other, though far distant, is beheld in aU 

 its glory of color and noble proportions — the 

 one supreme beauty and wonder to which the 

 eye is ever turning. For while charming with 

 its beauty it tells the story of the stupendous 

 erosion of the canon — the foundation of the 

 unspeakable impression made on everybody. 

 It seems a gigantic statement for even nature 

 to make, all in one mighty stone word, appre- 

 hended at once like a biirst of light, celestial 

 color its natural vesture, coming in glory to 



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