MANY SPRINGS, PARIA RIVER UTAH

As we approached the Many Springs area the canyon walls were less steep and we could start to see some of the mesas surrounding us. The bottom of the canyon was still narrow enough that we had to walk through the river. Parts of the river here had sidepools filled with tadpoles and tangles of vegetation. There was one sharp narrow turn in the river with quicksand below the water level and here is where you'll lose your horse. A horses weight and narrow feet will cause it to sink faster than us, so the quicksand is potentialy deadly for them. Definitely leave the hooved animals at home for this trip.

Xronda made some very fine images of the river in this stretch. For my part I was fascinated by the number of tadpoles we were seeing as well as the occaisional adult frog that jumped from our path. Finally the lower canyon walls narrowed and became vertical again and we were in Many Springs. The red cliff walls are full of springs, and frame some very green marshy areas. The picture above typifies some of the color we saw.

We made camp and I went to work making pictures of the river. The many springs perhaps, had carved caves in the canyon walls, and later I heard some other campers performing Gregorian chants in one of the caves. I photographed some areas that had many small pools and pockets of water. The pockets of water were full of tiny black tadpoles, algea, and unfortunately, mosquitos too. Many Springs was a very magical place full of photographic possibility, next time I'll stay longer than overnight.