examine them. The shores were slippery with mud and quicksands, and
there was no fire-wood in sight. From here to the end of the canyons
we would have to depend almost entirely on the drift-piles for
fire-wood.

A landing was finally made where a section of a cliff had toppled from
above, affording a solid footing leading up to the higher bank. We
judged from our maps that we were within a very few miles of the
Colorado River. Here some footprints and signs of an old boat landing,
apparently about a week old, were seen in the sand. This surprised us
somewhat, as we had heard of no one coming down ahead of us.




CHAPTER XII



COULD WE SUCCEED?

An hour or two at the oars the next morning sufficed to bring us to
the junction of the Green and the Grand rivers. We tied up our boats,
and prepared to climb out on top, as we had a desire to see the view
from above. A mile back on the Green we had noticed a sort of canyon
or slope breaking down on the west side, affording a chance to reach
the top. Loading ourselves with a light lunch, a full canteen, and our
smaller cameras, we returned to this point and proceeded to climb out.
Powell's second expedition had climbed out at this same place;
Wolverton had also mentioned the fact that he had been out; so we were