The first white explorer to descend the Colorado River through Grand Canyon published an account of his journey 150 years ago. Intrigued by a passage in it, author Scott Thybony traveled to the Vermillion Cliffs to see if he could match the view described by John Wesley Powell. He writes about it in this month’s Canyon Commentary.

On a winter morning I ease past the boat ramp at Lees Ferry. Nothing moves except the Colorado River, not even a raven drifting overhead. After parking, I take a pack and walk toward the Spencer Trail. Set on the perpendicular, it climbs 1,500 vertical feet in a single mile. The trail follows one of the few natural breaks in the Vermillion Cliffs. My plan is to hike high enough to match a description written by John Wesley Powell, who led the first scientific ex

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