GLEN CANYON: The Cathedral in the Desert(123 pages 8 X 11 format)The CATHEDRAL, as it was popularly referred to in those days (and still is) was inundated by Lake Powell not too long after the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed (the mid-1960s). Because the Colorado River was put in reverse, it's backed-up water formed the makings of a large lake that slowly and surely inundated most of the canyon's halcyon haunts (chambers, alcoves, and sinuous corridors leading into the idyllic backcountry); also, destroyed some 3,000 archeological ruins (mostly, former Anasazi dwellings). By the early 1980s, Lake Powell extended nearly 200 miles (321 km), creating 1,900-miles/3,057 km, making its artificial basin the second-largest in America (the first being Lake Mead, by volume). Consequently, about 125 side canyon (drainage corridors) was swamped by hundreds of feet of water. These mentioned details are outlined in my other Glen Canyon manuscript entitled " GLEN CANYON BEFORE LAKE POWELL: It Wasn't Nice To Drown A Canyon Lady," which depicts the before, during, and after phases relative to building the dam. In The Cathedral's smaller sequel, however, the cornerstone of the narrative takes readers on a literary journey to the most revered native habitat whose descriptive write-up is expressly intended to document this side canyon's chamber's peerless haunt. Like most of the other backcountry sandstone marvels, this showcase of exquisite beauty and idyllic environs was sacrificed when the Bureau of Reclamation targeted Glen Canyon for the first large dam to be constructed in the upper basin of the Colorado River. Since Lake Powell formed some fifty years ago, Lake Powell has manifested serious environmental problems due to continuing and unstoppable aggradation (i.e., sediment in-flow, otherwise known as "clastic particle fallout" that sticks to the bottom). Moreover, the ongoing accumulation, which is unstoppable, has effectively diminished the gigantic basin's originally estimated 700-year lifespan. That said, it is estimated Lake Powell will remain a basin and storage facility for some sixty or seventy years (and maybe 100 years tops) because there is no feasible or economical way to remove the grayish gunk on the bottom of the lake. Indeed, that massive stockpile that formed in the upper reaches of the lake steadily creeps down-lake, like a blob.As to the narrative of CATHEDRAL IN THE DESERT, this personal story (and the favorite haunt of the author's) describes the immaculate environs of its massive and awesome chamber, the same as has happened to Glen Canyon's numerous other chamber-haunts. The narrative also describes the before and after phases, including the Cathedral's brief drying out when the lake level dropped some 145 feet (44 m). That rare and serendipitous event happened in April 2005. For a couple of weeks, a relative few Glen Canyon aficionados, including the author, hiked or boated into this dead-end tributary. Hence, seeing firsthand the magisterial setting from the base of The Cathedral to the upper reaches hundreds of feet above its veritable shrine of the ages. Toward the middle of the month, the water level of the slow-rising lake inundated the tributary and access to its erosional sandstone masterpiece. By the end of the month, the shrine (chamber) was, once again, engulfed by cold, clear water. For more about my credentials and background, visit my online bookstore and home page at this URL: www.richholtzin.com
About the Author: After being Honorably Discharged from the Navy (submarine service), Rich Holtzin has lived in the West and Southwest for over four decades. Earning three academic degrees in Eastern and Western Philosophy, for some thirty years, he made a living as an outdoors educator and interpreter teaching a variety of geosciences, human, and natural history geared to the Colorado Plateau Province. Additionally, Rich was a professional studio and stage musician and taught guitar and music theory, including composing two soundtracks for the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks; a high school Educational Assistant and Substitute Teacher; a Commercial Pilot flying a variety of aircraft; a professional Photographer; a GPS surveyor and Topographical Mapper for the U. S. Forest Service; a Planetarium Control Room operator; a museum docent; and the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. What Rich is more enthused about, however, is serving in the role of an Interpretive Guide and Educator for the Grand Canyon Field Institute (a National Park Service endorsed outreach program (http: //bit.ly/1D6YS1u). He was also an instructor at Northern Arizona University and Yavapai College (respectively, Flagstaff and Prescott), as well as the owner of a Southwest eco and cultural tourism enterprise. Fairly recently, he became the Executive Director of a think tank in Albuquerque, based on astronautics and aerospace S.T.E.M. classroom projects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), including the co-author of a math-lab book based on rocketry (www.stemfortheclassroom). For more of RICH HOLTZIN'S backstory, peruse his website under his legal name: www.richholtzin.com He also writes books under the nom de plume, RK ALLEMAN, as published on his other Amazon Author's Page.