Sometimes The Rocks Are Of Many Colors

Randy Travis / George Jones: A Few Ol' Country Boys

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.
--John Wesley Powell
journal entry for August 8, 1869