San Juan River

Evening, the San Juan River near Johns Canyon.

This inlet at the mouth of Johns Canyon was made during the times Johns has been an active waterfall. I've seen it flowing at such a time. The water crashes down with a mighty roar and it could easily move large rocks then.

An area of rocks near the edge of the river, near the mouth of Johns Canyon.

The edge of the river, our first evening. It had been higher a few days earlier, as shown by the lines marking high water. The water would rise considerably during our trip though it wasn't obvious, even by the water sticks I often put at the edge of the water at night. The blue and white is our bowline--out of focus in this photo.

The Mendenhall Cabin, atop the neck of Mendenhall Loop, now somewhat broken down. Why was this cabin built? How did Mendenhall get here? Was this his only home? What happened here? What sort of life did Mendenhall lead? What do we know about Mendenhall?

Well, we do know a little about W. E. Mendenhall. You can know a little about him, too, by going here:

http://www.sharlot.org/archives/history/dayspast/text/2000_02_20.shtml

The landing to walk to the neck of Mendenhall Loop, seen here nearly over the top of Ray's head. The route goes up the ledge against which the boat is beached, but a small landslide has covered some of the ledge. A rough trail (not bad for a Canyon Country trail) goes up a little, to get over the rocks of the landslide.