Accordingly, Russell and Monett pushed ahead, and
put in many days prospecting along the shores of Glen Canyon.
After
forty-three days of waiting at Lee's Ferry, Russell and Monett decided that
if they were to complete the trip before their now rapidly decreasing
supply of provisions was exhausted, they must start on without Loper, for
whom they had waited more than twice the time agreed on. Friday, December
13, had no terrors for the intrepid pair, and on the morning of that day
they started on down the river, with the sixty-six miles of Marble Canyon
in front of them, an introduction to the two hundred and seventeen miles of
the Grand Canyon below.
Their Remarkable Nerve. In telling of this stage of the journey, Russell
seemed to lose sight entirely of the remarkable nerve both men showed in
starting down through what is admittedly the wildest stretch of continuous
bad water in the whole river. And that, too, without the third companion,
who at the outset had been considered absolutely indispensable to the
success of the party. Instead, he emphasized rather his belief that Loper
had elected to face no more dangers, and had voluntarily remained behind at
Hite.
First Seven Days Passed in Safety. In seven days they had passed the length
of the roaring stream, in its descent through perpendicular walls of
marble, reaching up to an average height of two thousand five hundred feet,
and had come through the worst rapids to that point, without damage to
either boat. At one stage there are fifty-seven falls of from sixteen to
twenty feet in a distance of nineteen miles, according to Stanton's
records, in which was kept an accurate count of all the rapids in the
river.
Enter the Grand Canyon. They entered the Grand Canyon December 20. For the
first fifteen miles below the entrance of the Little Colorado, and the
beginning of the big Canyon, they found comparatively quiet water. But from
this point, on to the beginning of the first granite gorge, their way was
threatened with the worst falls they had met thus far. The good luck which
had attended them from the start, however, still prevailed, and they
managed to shoot their way safely down over the almost continuous cataracts
for five long days. Christmas found them only fifteen miles above Bright
Angel. In describing the manner of their celebration, Russell remarked
casually that they certainly "hung their stockings" - to dry. From beginning
to end of their journey, the adventurers were obliged to depend entirely
for fuel on such driftwood as they could find lodged in eddies and on the
rocky shores. More than one night they spent in clothes soaked through with
the icy water of the Colorado, with no fire to warm them. Their Christmas
camp, however, was on a narrow strip of sand, with a greater supply of
driftwood at hand than they had found at any point along the river.
Dangerous Rapids.
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