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topples upon us, filling the boat in an instant. The force of the river carries us through
the first wave and into a second, deeper hole... I think I can almost see bedrock bottom. The third wave towers
above us. Far above. The Great Wave. Heavily our water-loaded boat, askew, climbs up its
face. Never makes it. As the wave hits us from the portside our dory turns over with the
grave, solemn, inevitable certainty of disaster. No one says a word as we go under. -- from EDWARD ABBEY'S JOURNAL
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Photographs
JOHN BLAUSTEIN |
A
Journal
EDWARD ABBEY |
Introduction
MARTIN LITTON |
"Blaustein’s color
photographs are spectacular."
--Los Angeles Times"I cannot recall a
better collection of Grand Canyon photographs than these."
--Library Journal
While millions of people visit the Grand Canyon each year,
relatively few of them are lucky enough to float through it on the Colorado River. This
amazing journey is the subject of The Hidden Canyon, a landmark portrait of the Grand
Canyon experienced at river level, and now revised, updated, and including more than two
dozen new photographs. In over one hundred remarkable images, photographer and former
river guide John Blaustein captures the awe-inspiring beauty of the canyon and the
excitement of running some of the wildest rapids in North America. The accompanying
journal kept throughout the trip by wilderness hero Edward Abbey offers a lyrical and
humorous description of the action as a group of dories (small wooden rowboats)
alternately floats and charges through spectacular canyon landscapes, sculpted rock
formations, and tons of rushing white water.
11¾" x 9¾", 144
pages, 107 color photographs, river map.
Chronicle Books, 1999. Designed by Carole Goodman. |
ABOUT THE AUTHORS...John Blaustein has served as guide and
boatman on more than fifty river trips in the Grand Canyon. His photographs have appeared
in two previous books, as well as in many advertisements. He lives in Berkeley,
California.
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) was a novelist, essayist, social critic, and outspoken
defender of the American wilderness. His books include Desert Solitaire and The
Monkey Wrench Gang.
Martin Litton is the founder of Grand Canyon Dories and the recipient of the John Muir
Award--the Sierra Club’s most prestigious award. He celebrated his eightieth birthday
by rowing a dory down the 277 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon,
becoming the oldest person in the world to do so.
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