Gates of Lodore 11-16-09

[flyinmonque]

[n5lp]

Boy, that brings back good kayaking memories. For anyone wondering, this canyon is in Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah.

Here is the last stanza of the poem "The Cataract of Lodore" from which this canyon was named, by the John Wesley Powell expedition:

"Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,
Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,
Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,
Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,
And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,
And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,
And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,
And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,
And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;
And so never ending, but always descending,
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar, -
And this way the water comes down at Lodore."

Robert Southey

[Noah]

Wow Larry, that is fantastic! I also miss my Colorado kayaking days. There is a great segment on this area in Ken Burns new film "The National Parks" - WELL worth seeing.