The ascent is not very steep but the hillside across which
the trail passes slopes down to canyons and precipices which suggest
unfathomable depths. At one place the trail, for about fifty feet, is over
ashes or some exceedingly loose material that allows the animals to slide
very quickly down towards the deep precipice on the right and the sight is
most trying to my nerves, but Belshazzar's deliberate walk and
sure-footedness soon restore my usual equanimity.
"From this we pass into a canyon or series of canyons where one can plainly
see that in the remote past a torrent has poured down, tearing away the
soil and tossing huge boulders about. Many naked rocky ledges show, and my
burro is occasionally required to carry me up stone steps.
Muav Canyon. "Presently we enter a narrow canyon through which flows a
clear, cool stream. Walls of red rock on both sides with, much gray stone.
Many large sycamores, cottonwoods and alders, grass and flowers, with
maidenhair ferns on the rocks. We stop for lunch under a big cottonwood
tree. About four thousand five hundred feet elevation. We leave this lovely
spot and go up the canyon which makes a sharp turn to the left. This is
Muav Canyon.
Climbing Higher. "After a little distance we emerge from this canyon and
leave the stream. Then begins a tremendous climb which I accomplish by
clinging to the coat tails of the guide with one hand and sometimes with
both hands, he holding tight to the burro's tail ahead of him.
