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Sierra Club Bulletin 



gypsum and some outcroppings of coal were visible. The auto road from Zion 

 to Kanab is about no miles; my cross-country ride about forty-seven miles. 



Sept. 19th. — Seven miles by automobile from Kanab across the Utah-Ari- 

 zona state line to Fredonia, the only settlement in Arizona north of the Colo- 

 rado River, thence eighty miles to the north rim of the Grand Cafion, the 

 last fifty of which is over an excellent road through the Kaibab National For- 

 est. One must go to the Pacific Slope for any forest of pines and firs near to the 

 magnificence of this. And the one touch, if any, needed to accentuate its beauty 

 was the flaming yellow groves of aspens as this afternoon's slanting sun-rays 

 shone upon them. What a soul-satisfying approach was this to the Grand 

 Canon ! In the open meadows literally hundreds of deer were feeding peace- 

 fully. Saw one specimen of the very rare white-tailed squirrel. 



Sept. 20th. — On my first visit to the south rim of the Grand Canon I at- 

 tempted, and quit in despair, a word-picture of this overwhelming marvel of 

 all of Nature's wonders, and I haven't the heedlessness now to make another 

 futile effort. All day I've wandered and wondered and pondered here on the 

 north rim. Tonight I'm at the camp (preparatory to tramping across the 

 canon) of Uncle Jim Owens, the famous cougar-hunter who guided Roosevelt 

 through here a few years ago. 



Sept. 2ist. — Left camp at 7:15 a.m. Three miles exhilarating walk — air 

 frosty — to head of Bright Angel Canon (largest of the side canons of the 

 Colorado), whence is a superb view. The north rim is approximately thirteen 

 hundred feet higher than the south. Then began the unique sixteen-mile de- 

 scent. Encountered first necessary fording of the creek about 10:00 A.M. Prin- 

 cipal growth is manzanita and scrub cedar. Shortly after noon overtook a 

 young fellow tramping to El Tovar to seek work. As the canon narrowed, the 

 creek (five to twenty-five feet wide and not much over knee deep) became the 

 trail in many places. Soon we reached the igneous rock walls, dark, rugged, 

 and forbidding in their aspect. Then suddenly the narrow gorge widened, and 

 at 4 :45 p.m. we emerged at Roosevelt Camp, where two tents and some equip- 

 ment are maintained by the Park Service. After preparing camp for the night 

 we walked one-fourth mile to confluence of Bright Angel Creek and Colorado 

 River, whence we were in sight of the new suspension-bridge one-half mile 

 eastward. We had come from 8250 feet altitude to 2450, and had forded the 

 creek eighty times. In the warm temperature (probably 75 degrees at 7:00 

 P.M.) we preferred the open to the tents, and as I lay there awake for an hour 

 or more and thought of the nights I had experienced in so many different parts 

 of the world, I could recollect none more nearly perfect. The great arch of the 

 Milky Way was immediately over us, and the stars, seen from out of the canon 

 depths, seemed unusually brilliant and near, the environment grand and 

 imique. Altogether it was a tranquil and soothing night to one accustomed to 

 the turmoil of city life. Instead of gloomy and forbidding, as people looking 

 down from the rim think the canon must be, it did not seem so at all, as I 

 had really come to know it now, but friendly and protective rather than awe- 

 some. 



Sept. 22nd. — Shortly after 2:00 A.M., with the bright moon shining down 

 upon us, we both awoke, soon had a light breakfast, and were on our way at 



