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Show , . : ff J i From a high vantage point near the Doll House a spectator views the cataracts catar-acts of the mighty Colorado River as it If iU By Slim Mabery Hitch Williams had his big "1-foot, rubber raft inflated nd ready for a float trip irough Cataract Canyon. He. jd invited me to come along id I could easily think of ut twenty-five reasons why , shouldn't go gardening, ard work, the plumbing un-s un-s the house, the patio, "rising church services and fny others. However, I re-I re-I ctantly packed my personal ;ar into one of his water-roof water-roof bags and was soon ending en-ding the magnificent scen-ry scen-ry as we drifted down the "olorado from Potash. The purpose of the trip was. co-fold. Mitch wanted to neck the Canyon and its ataracts out prior to the xning visitor season and to rve his Tag-A-Long Tour ""uides some additional train-g train-g in river running, camp- g and taking care of the iitor. He wanted them to :come better acquainte! " ith the river's characteris- s and moods, the canyon's atures and phenomena, and J be able to describe what ss beyond the canyon rims " how a side canyon might ' :late to the area as a whole. As the 20-horse motor pusn- : eur raft along the quiet Caters between Potash and e Confluence the great lckling of the earth's crust m :comes vividly displayed as ': watch the strata lines b2- C!;een the sandstone formalins forma-lins rise out of the water to tat heights only to dip wn and again disappear be- Cath the water a short dis-nce dis-nce dow-n the canyon. A rge buck deer swims the rer in front of our raft to j it to a willow patch on the iposite shore; ducks, geese id Great Blue Heron are tmerous, and, although we I i not actually observe any Y aver first-hand, evidence II their busy workings is erywhere. And, all the lile, Mitch and his "pilots" C' ive been busily discussin;; e surface "readings" which U of rocks, sandbars and ier characteristics whicn" 5) hidden beneath the sur-:e sur-:e of the water. I am am- ed. It's Hard to Beat 4s we glide along in the rm, March sunshine we at about the fact that Palm ach, Florida and Palm rings, California have very tie on us, weather-wise. ide from this, their poor itors are deprived ol the gnificent scenery and ght, blue skies that we are richly blessed with. Boy! those multitudes only w about the beautiful wea-; wea-; i r we have enjoyed during past February and March, i their mouths would wa-! wa-! And, incidently, this is 'an uncommon occurance e in our Canyonlands coun-i coun-i j carves its tortuous course through Cataract Cat-aract Canyon in the southern portion of Canyonlands National Park. !;!)rientation Trip Through Cataract Readies Guides for Visitor Season At one place we "putted" into shore where Mitch took us on hands and knees through a short "tunnel," where beaver bea-ver had cleared a passage-was passage-was through the tamarisks to reach a willow patch beyond. Emerging from the tunnel we walked through the willows and cottonwoods to a small flat or "bottom." On a large rock near the foot of the cliffs Mitch showed us an old inscription which read, "Horse Thief Den." A short distance away is the remains of an age-old trail leading up and over the cliff tops, where thieves of yesteryear had apparently ap-parently brought their stolen horses to this remote hide-out for food, water and safe-keeping. Into the Cataracts We then plunge into the roaring, surging, white waters wa-ters of the mighty cataracts where the churning Colorado has gouged its tortuous way-through way-through this spectacular canyon. can-yon. As our craft crests th? giant swells of some of these rapids its bow sometimes rises to a height of more than 15 feet above the water only to come' crashing down into the next swell, sending a spray of water over everyone every-one on board. Some of the occupants wear shorts and go shirtless in order to enjoy the spray to its maximum while others wear rain coa,ts to protect them from it. Cataract is quite different; from most canyons found hi the area. Although its . walls are near verticle and reach majestic heights they are quite broken and display tier upon tier of individual blocks rather than the smooth rock faces commonly displayed in most of our other canyons. Along its river banks aie rounded boulders from the Colorado Rockies, the Stat' of Wyoming and other areas. Granite and unusual, fossil-filled fossil-filled rocks are quite common. com-mon. Roaring River Dies Just below the 33rd rapid, near the mouth of Gypsum Canyon, we begin to observe the sickening sights of mud and debris which cover the smaller plants and vegetation vegeta-tion along each bank of the river; deposits left by the high waters of Lake Powell last year. However, if one can only look beyond this mess, the majestic cliffs are still standing with the same splendor and beauty as ever before. As we prepare our camp between the 33rd and 34th rapid we marvel at the colorful cliffs across the river ri-ver which rise to puncture an azure blue sky some 2,103 feet above the water's edge. We eat supper and drift olf into peaceful sleep, lulled by the muffled sounds of the 34th rapid. Beaver come ashore to cut willows within 25 feet of our sleeping bags. Next morning we arise to shoot the 34th and final remaining re-maining rapid before entering enter-ing the placid waters of Lake Powell. (24 of the 58 rapids are now buried beneath thes. waters.) As we shoot this final rapid my thoughts relive re-live the wonders and thrills of the past two days. This has indeed been a rich, rewarding experience one J will Jong remember. On the Big Lake Our motor drones a lonesome lone-some tune as we glide over the waters of Lake Powell which is gradually changing from muddy to yellow-green, to blue. We w;atch the canyons and side canyon ahead' and wender which will turn out to be ours. Deep, tributary canyons enter from either side, some of them so narrow that there is barely enough room to permit the entrance of our raft. Along the canyon rims are outlines and profiles to arouse the most vivid imaginations im-aginations of all who pass beneath them. Then we suddenly sud-denly round a bend and the silver span of the giant bridge which connects Utah State Highway 95 looms overhead. Next we are debarking at Hite and we can readily understand un-derstand why so many visitors visi-tors return from similar trips hailing them as "the trip of a lifetime filled with rich, rewarding experiences and excitement the best I have ever taken." |
