Where the journey begins. Anyone who has ever floated through the Grand Canyon National Park on the Colorado River with a commercial outfitter or on a private permit has put on the river at Lee’s Ferry in Marble Canyon. First, Paria riffle, then under the double bridges to the experience of a lifetime.
Marble Canyon is so much more; history, hiking, color, silence.
The Condor reintroduction site, established by the Peregrine Fund and administered by my friend Chris Parish, is just west on the Vermillion Cliffs. To the north in House Rock Valley is Buckskin Draw and the “Wave”, a stunning display of sand devolution. The Paria River carves its narrow path into the Navajo Sandstone of the Paria Plateau from White House to the Colorado River.
U. S. Route 89 follows the Echo Cliffs on its way to Page, Arizona, Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell while 89A offers the Cathedral, Marble Canyon Lodge, Lonely Dells and the Echo Peaks on its path.
The Paria Wilderness, Vermillion Cliffs, Glen Canyon and Navajo Tribal Lands, with slot canyons and endless vistas, alternately intimate and engulfing, are but a fraction of what may be experienced near Marble Canyon.
T-Shirt Description
Front: A hand drawn pen and ink image of the two Navajo Bridges downstream from Lee’s Ferry, the start of all Grand Canyon river trips, with the Echo Cliffs in the background and an endangered Condor in flight.
Back: A hand-drawn map including Page, Glen Canyon, Marble Canyon, and the Navajo Nation just down the road from the Peregrine Fund California Condor release site.
