It Is With Very Great Labor That We Make Progress (August 8, 1869)

From the journals of John Wesley Powell:

August 8, 1869/

The limestone of this canyon is often polished, and makes a beautiful marble. Sometimes the rocks are of many colors---white, gray, pink and purple, with saffron tints. It is with very great labor that we make progress, meeting with many obstructions, running rapids, letting down our boats with lines from rock to rock, and sometimes carrying boats and cargoes around bad places. We camp at night, just after a hard portage, under an overhanging wall, glad to find shelter from the rain. We have to search for some time to find a few sticks of driftwood, just sufficient to boil a cup of coffee.

view west from above Escalante Canyon (top)

Powell Plateau from Serpentine Rapids (middle)

upriver toward the Confluence, Beamer Trail (below)