Rock Fall on Lake Powell

In 1969 Lake Powell was filling rapidly after the final construction of Glen Canyon Dam. We took a trip from Bull Frog Basin to the Escalante Canyon in canoes. One of the most remarkable things that occurred was a huge rock fall from the canyon wall. The first picture is just before the rock peeled away from the cliff. We noticed the rock because it looked like it was smoking. Small rocks were falling down behind the big slab as it moved slowly away from the cliff.

We guessed what was happening and began to slowly drift away from the rock on down the lake. While we watched the rock fell off the cliff into the lake. Had the lake been more shallow, we would have been washed away, but because of the depth, the wave did not break and we were able to escape harm.

Our friends had gone on down the lake and were about a mile away. To them it looked like the whole cliff came off and then we disappeared in the spray. They thought we were washed away. So did we. The spray went 3/4 of the way across the canyon, which was close to a mile wide at this point. It is hard to get  the perspective of the size of the fall from these small pictures, taken with a half frame film camera that had to be advanced between each shot. When the rock fell, I took this picture, stuffed the camera in a plastic bag, yelled to get out of there and put the bag in my teeth and started paddling like crazy.

Here is the spot on the cliff where the rock was standing. No one would ever guess that a rock had fallen into the lake.