USGS Earth Science Photographic Archive digital files: hjk00657 and hjk0657a
Despite concerns about dwindling food supplies, the deep, slow moving water in Stillwater Canyon came as a relief to both Powell expeditions. It served as a reprieve to the hard work paddling and portaging associated with rapids that were in flood during the First Expedition, and the low-water conditions that exposed rocks and sand bars in the stream during the Second. Note the clear-water conditions in this image in contrast to the muddy water in the following images. A summer rainstorm (with flash floods) will turn the river completely muddy in a matter of hours.
