On The Colorado - Articles

THIS IS PART THREE

To Visit Part One - CLICK HERE
To visit Part Two - CLICK HERE

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PRIMARY RESEARCH DOCUMENTS

1971 to 1978 - The Lake Powell Research Project. National Science Foundation.

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PROJECT PROGRAMMING: Lake Powell Sedimentation

2002, March 28 - Concept letter from Professor John C. Dohrenwend
2013 - Obituary of John C. Dohrenwend
Portrait: The late John C. Dohrenwend

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1992 to 2004: Dr. Robert H. Webb (USGS, retired), Dr. Jayne Belnap (USGS, retired), and John Weisheit.
Repeat photography and data when reservoir was nearly full in the 1990s.

Cataract Canyon: An Environmental and Human History of the Rivers in Canyonlands. University of Utah Press; 2004.

REPEAT PHOTOS (jpg images)

Big Drop Two (#22); (Elevation 3715 feet)
Imperial Rapid (#26)
Upstream view above Waterhole Canyon
Clearwater Canyon
Bowdie Canyon
Rockfall Canyon (circa 1964 @ elevation 3520 feet)
Mouth of Dirty Devil River (match of 1889 photo by Franklin Nims)

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1994 to 2000 - San Juan River Sedimentation Project by Donald Baars and Gene Stevenson

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1998 to 2000: Glen Canyon Institute; Citizen's Environmental Assessment on the decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam.

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2002 to 2006: Dr. John Dohrenwend (USGS, retired) & John Weisheit (Colorado Riverkeeper)
Original photos; repeat photography and presentations.

Photography, Photo Matches and Presentations
Dirty Devil River mouth; original Hite Marina; sand and gravel operations for highway and bridge construction.

1966 - Aerial photo of the first Hite Marina; reservoir elevation 3530; before the snowmelt; photographer unknown. Same photo with a red dot to mark the location of the modern-day primitive boat ramp.
1966 - Aerial photo of original Hite Marina; elevation is 3538 feet; during snowmelt; photographer unknown. Same photo with a red dot to mark the location of the modern-day primitive boat ramp.
1969 - Match 01: Dirty Devil area near Highway 95. Weisheit; original photo by Tad Nichols.
1969 - Match 02: Dirty Devil area near Highway 95. Weisheit; original photo by Tad Nichols.
1999? - Match of Dirty Devil Arm near Hwy 95 Bridge. Weisheit; original photo by American Southwest .net.
1969 ? - Aerial of gravel mining operations for paving Highway 95. photographer unknown.
1969 ? - Aerial of bedrock features near Dirty Devil River; photographer unknown.
1973 ? - Aerial repeat photo at mouth of Dirty Devil River. Dohrenwend.; original photo by P.T. Reily.

Note: The trailer camp in the photos above ware occupied by the workers of Highway 95 and for road and bridge construction. You will notice that heavy equipment is gathering and sorting Colorado and Dirty Devil river gravels (Quaternary Period) for road base and for the bridge approaches. A marina was also available for boaters and operated by commercial outfitters, namely John Frank Wright (Mexican Hat Expeditions) and Gaylord Stavely (Canyoneers).

Additional Information about Glen Canyon Photography by Tad Nichols

Video: Dawn Kish and the photography of Tad Nichols.You Tube.

Reconnaissance

2002, March 28 - The first reconnasaince trip and launching at Hite Marina.
2005, 1st Quarter? - 01: Aerial of Dirty Devil Take-out. Dohrenwend.
2005, 1st Quarter? - 02: Aerial photo of Dirty Devil Take-out. Dohrenwend.
2005, 1st Quarter? - New Rapid above Farley Canyon
2005 - Report on New Rapid above Farley Canyon. Weisheit.
Lower Cataract Canyon - A pdf portfolio: matching our 2004 photos in 2006. Dohrenwend.
Various features: river erosion on exposed deposits of reservoir sediment. Dohrenwend & Weisheit

Presentations

Rapid Progradation of River Deltas Into Lake Powell, March 2002 to March 2004. Dohrenwend.
Floods, Tamarisk, Drought: Recent and Future Changes Along the Colorado River. Dohrenwend.
Decline and Fall of Lake Powell, March 2002 to March 2005: Impacts of Extended Drought on the Colorado Plateau. Dohrenwend.
Portrait: The late John C. Dohrenwend

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Utah State University: 2005 to 2022

2009 - Fluvial Systems Tied Together Through Common Base Level: The Geomorphic Response of the Dirty Devil River, North Wash Creek, and the Colorado River to the Rapid Base Level Drop of Lake Powell. Adam Majeski.

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2017 - Rebecca Solnit

2009 - Rebecca's book review of Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the Westl by James Lawrence Powell. Rebecca Solnit for London Review of Books.
2017- Letter from a drowned canyon. Rebecca Solnit for California Sunday Magazine.
2017 - Why filling Lake Mead First is a bad idea. Sinjin Eberle for American Rivers.
2023 - A river guide’s view of Lake Powell’s decline and the depths of the Colorado River crisis.

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2017 to present: The Returning Rapids Project; Mike DeHoff (Principal Investigator) and colleagues

Fiscal sponor is Glen Canyon Institute.
Home: Page: Returning Rapids Project
October 2021 Trip Report
The History of Lake Powell Written in Sediment. USGS.
May, 2023 - Ecological succession in Cataract Canyon. Arens.

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2017 and 2018: Filmmaker Taylor Graham for National Geographic

Rediscovering Glen Canyon's Lost Wonders by Kayak. You Tube.

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2021 to present: Glen Canyon Rejuvenation Project; Dr. Dan McCool and colleagues

Aerial Photos: Light Hawk Overflight of September 10, 2021, PDF Portfolios.

Reservoir boating trip; photos and report: 6-day camping trip to Bullfrog Marina, Moki Canyon, Forgotten Canyon, and Lake Canyon.

Weisheit - PDF portfolio
McCool - PDF portfolio
Trip Report. Weisheit.

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October 2021 - 100th Anniversary of the Kelly W. Trimble 1921 USGS San Juan Expedition

Report: Lowest San Juan River. Brandt Hart & Chad Niehaus.
1921 Diary of Hugh D. Miser.
1924 - Professional Paper by Hugh D. Miser. USGS.
Repeat photograph at Grand Gulch.

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October of 2021 - 100th anniversary of the William R. Chenoweth 1921 USGS Canyonlands Expedition.

Description of the 1921 USGS Survey. William Chenoweth.

October 2021 - Dirty Devil Boat Ramp to Bullfrog Creek Boat Ramp
By Tom Martin (River Runners for Wilderness) and John Weisheit (Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper).

Trip dates: September and October of 2021
By staff and volunteers for the fiscally sponsored projects of Living Rivers: River Runners for Wilderness and Colorado Riverkeeper.
CLICK HERE to view this repeat photograpjy presentation via VIMEO. Tom Martin.

Note: Stay tuned for more repeat photgraphy

A repeat photography boat trip; October 10 to 14, 2021; reservoir elevation 3545 feet.
Note: PDF Portfolios of general reservoir conditions; file size reduced; still takes awhile to download.

The Repeat Photos
Original images before 1964 and the match occurred in 2021 at elevation 3545 feet
Note: Matches to be perfected with new additions in October of 2022

Dirty Devil Mouth: Beth Nielsen 195? and Tom Martin, 2021
Dirty Devil Boat Ramp: Beth Nielsen 195? and Martin, 2021
North Wash: Beth Nielsen 195? and Tom Martin, 2021
North Wash: Beaman 1871 & Martin, 2021
White Canyon: Marston & Martin, 2021
White Canyon Fort: Hallan Neil Marsh & Martin, 2021
White Canyon Fort: Marston & Martin 2021
Dorothy Bar: Nielsen & Martin, 2021
Castle Butte from The Horn: Nielsen & Martin, 2021
The Horn: Phil Pennington & Martin, 2021
Castle Butte: Nielsen & Martin, 2021
Ticaboo Canyon: Gus Scott & Martin, 2021
Red Canyon: Hillis Howie & Martin, 2021
Good Hope Mesa: Neil Newby & Martin, 2021
Seven Mile Canyon: Hillis Howie & Martin, 2021
Tapestry Wall: Newby & Martin, 2021
Tapestry Wall Upstream View: Marston & Martin, 2021
Tapestry Wall Downstream View: Marston & Martin, 2021
Hansen Creek, Upstream of: Esparza & Martin, 2021

October of 2022: Aerial Photos at Elevation 3530 feet
All photos by John Weisheit and public domain.

October of 2022 Matches

Matching photos from the Nielsen Collection near Farley, White and Trachyte canyons. Also 1921 USGS photos between The Horn and Bullfrog Creek.

Presentation via Vimeo: By Tom Martin; December 2022.
Note: Locating the exact camera stations was very difficult and sometimes unsafe. The perched sediment here is about 200 feet thick and choked with massive thickets of weeds. The sediment features include deep mud cracks, subsidence, slump fractures and slope failures.
Note: A metal water tank was installed on a ledge just a bit downstream of Moki Fort when the White Canyon Uranium Mill was operational. Fastners for the water delivery pipes can still be observed.
Moki Fort from drainage of White Canyon; October 2022. jpg.
Airstrip above Farley Canyon mouth; Upstream View; October 2022. jpg.
Airstrip above Farley Canyon mouth; Downstream View; October 2022. jpg.
Airplane parked at airstrip; October 2022. jpg.

Other Locations and photographers

Tapestry Wall: George Rathban, 1958
More photos soon!

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2023 - Erik Bernhoft and Tom Martin match lower half of Lake Powell

Revisit Glen Canyon

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Stay tuned for a more detailed narratives that will include landscape and aerial photos.

End of Part Three

To Visit Part One - CLICK HERE
To visit Part Two - CLICK HERE

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