Marble Canyon (Lees Ferry Area)

Author's Comments

There is a stillness at Lees Ferry in the hour before sunrise that I have not quite found anywhere else along the Colorado. The river here is wide and slow, gathering itself before the long descent into the Grand Canyon, and on a windless November morning the surface goes to glass. The Vermilion Cliffs rise on the far bank in layers of red and rust, and they double in the water with such precision that the seam between stone and reflection nearly disappears. I come for that seam. The photograph I am after is the one made in the ten or fifteen minutes when the cliffs catch the first direct light and the river has not yet been stirred by a breeze or a launching raft. After about seven, the boats begin to push off for their Grand Canyon trips, and the water remembers it is moving. Lonely Dell is worth the short drive across the Paria. The orchard and the old ranch buildings sit in a pocket of green that feels improbable against the surrounding rock, and in late autumn the cottonwoods along the Paria turn a yellow so saturated it looks lit from inside. I tend to shoot the river first, then work my way to the ranch as the light climbs and softens the contrast. Winter is underrated here. The crowds thin almost to nothing, the air is cold and clear, and the low sun rakes the cliffs at an angle that summer simply cannot offer. Bring a wide lens for the reflections and something longer for the cliff faces. And bring more time than you think you need. This is a place that asks you to wait, and then rewards the waiting.

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