Watch for Rocks

Dales ashes will be divided between the participants
for each person to scatter either publicly or privately.

Pull DV
Cooler Scout
They will be distributed the evening before the put in.
Easy One


Dale's favorite author
when it comes to the
Grand Canyon
was Edward Abbey

E Abbey

Favorite explorer ...
John Wesley Powell
Powell Museum



Mark Onesty
will not be able
to join us but sent
this great tribute:

MO's Tribute
to DV

Click here to
Watch MO's
run through
Lava Falls



Notes from Dale's journals and correspondence:

Straighten Out

 

Good Attitude

 

Pull

 

Nice Run

 

Singing Stewball

 

Why is he washing cans?

 

1991 DV

 

DV Solo

 

Groover Duty

 

Nice Wall

 

River Dale

 

Matkat Nap

 

Ladore

 

Journal Writing

 

Phantom Ranch

 

Blue Freeway

 

Dreaming

 

Push


I have no doubt at all the devil grins,
as seas of ink I spatter.

Ye gods, forgive my "literary" sins -
the other kind don't matter.

Robert Service


30 July 1986

"The memories have settled their way into my mind via my journal, of course. I'm elated, now, that I kept at my journal during the trip. I remember back when this trip was just confirmed - I went to my '85 journal and read what I had written regarding my emotions in preparing for the first time down the Grand. I had written little back then; I was disappointed. So I made an effort to monitor my feelings in preparing for Grand '86 as well as during the trip too!"


25 June 1986 - Clear Creek - Nite 5

"Met an interesting hiker named Merle today who was a school teacher. MO gave him some H20, and Merle was appreciative and told me he was going to remove his loin cloth once he got above the falls. Merle seemed 2 tacos short of a combination plate to me."


I leave you with these lines from a Robert Service poem Jace and I are trying to memorize:

There's a race of men that don't fit in,
a race that can't stay still

They break the hearts of kith and kin,
and they roam the world at will

They range the field and they rove the flood,
and they climb the mountain's crest;

Theirs is the curse of gypsy blood
and they don't know how to rest.

Regards, DV


The Colorado River teaches much that is not geology.

Frederick S Dellenbaugh


A squatting on a thymy slope
with vast of sky about me

I've scribbled on an envelope
the rhymes the hills would shout me;

For that's the way you ought to write
without a trace of trouble

Be supercharged with high delight
and let the words out bubble; ...

Robert Service

The Robert Service ditty sums up the gumption expression which caused me to get up early at Fern Glen Canyon and write this after hiking up it:

6 am - 4 July 1986 - Fern Glen Canyon

There is a cool breeze in Fern Glen Canyon this morning. It's warm. The canyon wrens sing their melodious song. Defoliation is evident. Time goes on

No things are permanent
not beauty
not spirit
not grandeur

No things are forever
not life
not love
not rock

Some things are ephemeral
a moment
an instant
a glance

Some things are routine
a ritual
a gathering
a day

In Fern Glen Canyon this morning things are special. I'm alone. I'm aware of nature. I'm aware of myself, my surroundings. I'm aware that these moments are fleeting by fast.

The canyon wrens sing their song
It's a greeting
They do this morning after morning
Their life long

A solitary yellow flower grows
It's hidden among huge rocks
A force drew my eyes to it
It was a memorable instant
The highlight of my day thus far

The water drips from the falls
Accompaniment for the canyon wren
Fern Glen Rapid rumbles at the canyon's mouth
Background Music

A small rock falls
A signal

It's peaceful here
Quiet July mornings must be this way
I'm enjoying them
Soon I will leave this canyon
No longer will I hear the wren.
I'll only remember the flower
The sounds of water will fade
The peace will pass
The grandeur will become memory
The canyon's character will remain unchanged
Fern Glen will not miss my presence
The moment is passing as I write
The feeling to leave trips thru my mind
The moment is no longer the same
I shall return from whence I came

DV


River Prose from GC '86

It caught me in anger
and tossed me rage
an unwilling prisoner
in a white foamy cage

I felt its power: the power was great
I heard its deafening roar on America's Anniversary date
I saw its face - angry hungry and mean
a countenance I never before had seen

I felt its force, its incessant pounding
its merciless hold in liquid foam abounding
I fought at first but lost at once
between the water and the boat I play the dunce

Still, I struggled to live - the fight was it's worth
as I nearly fought my last battle on earth

DV

(He was referring to a swim he took in Lava Rapid)


Mile 137 Left Bank below Deer Creek Falls. Nice camp with overhang for AM shade

How does night one below Badger sound - in the camp site by the big eddy just below the rapid? ... This would allow a slow, relaxing departure from Lee's Ferry. Sleep in morning 2 and down to north Canyon Rapid for night #2. Let people know before hand that the first few am's will be restful, sleep in type mornings. The early risings start maybe day 3 or 4. 5-6-7 days in Marble Canyon ...


Warm wind
Cool wind
Wind blowing sand

Hot sun
Burning sun
Sun on my hand

Smooth rock
Worn rock
Rock of this land

Fast water
Slow water
Water so grand

DV

 


I have a friend who wears a farm hat that says:
"A bad day on the river is better than a good day at work"