From Here One
May Go East Over The Walhalla Plateau To Niji Point, And Overlook The Chuar
Valley At The Mouth Of Marble Canyon, Where Dr. Walcott Spent A Winter
Studying The Algonkian Strata Of That Region.
To the west is Point Sublime,
Powell Plateau, and other scenery of an unusually majestic character.
Features of the North Wall. But let us now return to the main north wall
before us. The green tufts, that at this distance appear as grass or
shrubs, partially covering the top of the wall and descending the slopes
into the Canyon, are in reality great trees, mainly pines and black
birches, from twenty-five to over one hundred and one hundred and fifty
feet in height. The forest that covers the Kaibab Plateau contains many
majestic trees, and some of these have wandered over the rim to peep into
the depths of the abyss below. The cherty limestone strata are thus largely
covered, but the next stratum is the clear band of cross-bedded sandstone,
which corresponds to the second member of the geological series seen in the
arm of the amphitheatre at Maricopa Point, and is from five hundred to six
hundred feet wide.
Then the eye rests upon slopes of talus, which reach down to the red strata
of varying thicknesses, which are deposited above the red-wall limestone,
the widest member of the whole Canyon group. These walls are cut and
recessed into all kinds of shapes and forms, angles, promontories and
recesses, which, especially in the early morning and late afternoon, cast
shadows of inexpressible beauty.
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