| We approach that impossible passageway paddling, not a "wild, red, outlaw river" of "raging rapids," but rather a river that is perpetually lazy, always friendly and gentle. It's the Colorado River of Glen. The passageway seems to pull away as we approach, growing larger and larger in front of our eyes. | |
| That canyon is larger than past experience would let us imagine. Finally, we paddle inside and we are in the nave of a cathedral, greater by many times than any made by man. It's high water season, so our boats easily drift inside. (Note the yellow raft about to land.) | |
| Out of our boats, we are walking on a flat, smooth sand floor with arching walls closing overhead. Sweeping turns plunge into giant, dark stream alcoves. The occasional flash floods have, over the millenia, carved deeply because water and debris must make sharp turns in a serpentine route. The Navajo sandstone is structurally firm, but slightly water soluble, the perfect combination for formation of these wondrous canyons. Thoughts of flash floods remind us to keep aware of the weather in this land of sudden storms. | 
Chris Suczek...of the above yellow raft |
| This is one of
Cathedral Canyon's many great stream alcoves. We are standing in
a cavernous grotto. The ceiling above us reaches hundreds of feet
over the opposite wall. We see downstream to the left and upstream to the
right.
Click on
the upstream part to
see what lies further upstream. |
 |
| The great stream alcoves are common
in Glen. Nearby desert areas have similar stream alcoves, but puny
by comparison. . . not even run-of-the-mill Glen Canyon spectacular.
The alcoves in this part of Glen Canyon are the grandaddies. Across
the Colorado, we yesterday explored Driftwood Canyon. One of Driftwood's
alcoves was deep enough to have a miniature mountain range under its roof
which took a miniature mountaineering expedition to get over. About
half an hour of sand dune climbing. We later learned this alcove
was about a quarter mile deep.
Glen Canyon is a mystical place, its exploration a mystical experience. It is a world apart, a universe apart. In Glen we are as isolated by a space-time gap from our frenzied society as the mesas are isolated from each other by the deeply cut side canyons. Glen Canyon is so much more than an exquisite place. It's an experience. A unique experience. You are touched deeply by Glen Canyon.
You will never be the same person you were before you came here, perceived
here, realized and understood that here lies a place of unequaled magic.
Glen is unique. . . and then you recall that "unique" is a word,
a concept, that lies at the edge of human comprehension and is most often
used in a missed-concept way that has crippled communication of its unique
meaning.
You sense the doom that is moving inexorably toward Glen. |
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