CHAPTER VI. 



THE KAIBAB. 



The Kaibab is the loftiest of the four plateaus through which the 

 the Grand Canon extends. It is from 1,500 to 2,000 feet higher than 

 the Kanab Plateau on the west, and from 2,500 to 4,000 feet higher than 

 the Marble Canon platform on the east. Its superior altitude is due 

 wholly to displacement and not to erosion, for the strata upon its sum- 

 mit are the same as those upon the surfaces of the others. The up- 

 heaval has produced a sharp fault upon the western flank and a great 

 monoclinal flexure upon its eastern flauk. Throughout its entire plat- 

 form the upper Carboniferous forms the surface. The Kaibab begins at 

 the base of the Vermilion Cliffs near the little village of Paria; its 

 northern extremity terminating in a slender cusp. Steadily widening 

 and increasing very slowly in altitude, it reaches southward nearly a hun- 

 dred miles to the Colorado River, where it attains a breadth of about 

 35 miles. Its highest point is about 9,280 feet above the sea, but most 

 of its surface is between the altitudes of 7,800 and 0,000 feet. 



When viewed from a distance its summit, projected against the sky, 

 looks remarkably smooth and level. The slow increase of altitude from 

 north to south may be discerned, and yet, in the absence of positive 

 knowledge, it would be doubted by the careful observer whether this 

 might not be due to perspective, and not real. When we actually visit 

 the plateau we find the summit, seeming so smooth when viewed from 

 afar, to be really very rugged. It is scored with a minutely ramified 

 system of ravines, varying much in depth, but averaging about 300 

 feet in the heart of the plateau, and much deeper at the flanks. The 

 whole summit is magnificently forest-clad. In this respect it is in 

 strong contrast to the other plateaus, excepting, however, in a much infe- 

 rior way, the higher parts of the Uinkaret. The other plateaus are for- 

 midable deserts; the Kaibab is a paradise. The forests are due to the 

 superior altitude of the plateau, for the higher the altitude the moister 

 the climate. Through the southern portion of the Kaibab is cut the 

 finest portion of the Grand Canon. Vast and imposing as is the 

 scenery at the foot of the Toroweap, the scenery of the Kaibab is much 

 more impressive. I propose in the present chapter to describe in famil- 

 iar language a journey from Kanab to the Kaibab, and to the brink of 

 the chasm, where we may contemplate its sublimity. Its geological 

 significance must be discussed in a future work. 



When the order is given to the party encamped at the little village of 

 Kanab to prepare for the Kaibab, it is obeyed with more than ordinary 



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