8/24/1869

The canyon is wider today.
The walls rise to a vertical height
of nearly three thousand feet.
In many places the river runs under a cliff,
in great curves, forming amphitheaters, half-dome shaped.

Though the river is rapid,
we meet with
no serious obstructions,
and run twenty miles.
It is curious
how anxious we are
to make up our reckoning
every time we stop,
now that our diet
is confined to
plenty of coffee,
very little spoiled flour,
and very few dried apples.
It has come to be
a race for a dinner.
Still, we make
such fine progress,
all hands are in good cheer,
but not a moment
of daylight is lost.

--John Wesley Powell
journal entry for August 24, 1869

Tom Russell: Tonight We Ride


MAY YOUR MOUNTAINS RISE INTO AND ABOVE THE CLOUDS
NO EASY KEEPER
IN ANOTHER EXISTENCE PERHAPS
SHE IS REACHING OUT HER ARMS TONIGHT