Photos from the 2023 Rafting the Grand Canyon Photography Expedition
As a storm clears with clouds still clinging to the rim far above, the golden light on the cliffs reflects off the waters of the Colorado River in Marble Canyon.
Before Glen Canyon Dam was built, the river carried more sediment through the canyon resulting in many beaches along its banks. In the Spring of 2023, the Bureau of Reclamation conducted a High Flow Experiment (HFE) releasing water from Glen Canyon Dam at a rate of 40,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The result was the formation of many new beaches. Later in the summer of 2023, the Bureau of Reclamation closed the tap and only released about 5,000 cfs through the canyon. The resulting low water revealed even more beaches.
Deer Creek emerges from a slot canyon and plunges one hundered feet to before finding its way to the Colorado River.
I have wanted to photograph this location for several years, but when the Colorado River is running at normal to high water levels, it is inaccessible. In 2023, I was on an 18-day river trip during which the water in the river was running very low, making it possible to access. Sunlight was piercing through a narrow gap in the canyon walls, falling upon a still pool of water upon which the canyon walls reflected.
A massive rock pilar glows in reflected light in Little Nankoweap Canyon, a side canyon to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.
Life finds a way to survive. If you look closely, you can see a small cactus growing in a crack in the rock. From the Granite Gorge in Grand Canyon National Park.
In 1909, the Arizona Gazette published an article by "G.E. Kincaid," who shared his tale of rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. The Gazette ran two stories about Kincaid's trip, and in the second, he tells of how he discovered a cave entrance about 2,000 feet above the river and hiked up to explore where he claims to have found a treasure of Egyptian artifacts. He reported that he grabbed several relics and left, shipping them off to Washington - perhaps Kincaid was a distant relative of Indiana Jones?
Kincaid's story has led to many conspiracy theories about the "lost Egyptian cave of the Grand Canyon," with some people believing that the Smithsonian Museum is involved in a cover-up and that heavily armed guards protect the site.
When we saw this massive alcove high on a cliff above the river glowing in the low-angle light, I couldn't help but think of Kincaid's tall tale. Photo © Adam Schallau, All Rights Reserved.
Located some distance up the narrows of Clear Creek in the Grand Canyon is a beautiful waterfall with two cascades. Over time, the water has carved a sweeping channel in the rock that causes it to shoot out sideways.
The last light of the day falls upon the Palisades of the Desert and Peshlakai Point. From an overlook high above the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park.