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Environment & Energy

hatrack

(64,511 posts)

5. And yet, still some good news - i.e. giving nature a chance to do what she does . . .

Reply to NNadir (Reply #1)

Sun Feb 8, 2026, 02:59 PM

3 hrs ago

This is a photograph travelogue of what's going on down-canyon.

https://doingmiles.com/2009-04-escalante/

https://amyl.smugmug.com/Backpacking/UT-OR/200904-Escalante-River

First link - trip overview.

Second link - a photo diary from a hike nearly 20 years ago from the town of Escalante to below Coyote Gulch. FWIW, I'd suggesting starting at the bottom of the photo list and working backwards. Since that time, lots more of what's presented here - streams cutting through silt, canyons restoring themselves, species returning - has taken root as water levels collapse.

Also worth investigating - the Returning Rapids Project which tracks changes and sediment removal as rapids and side canyons clear themselves of silt far upstream in Cataract Canyon, and the book "Dead Pool" by Zack Podmore.

Nature does amazing things when we just let her alone for a while.

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quaint

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Highlight:

As Of 2/7/2026, Lake Powell Now Below 25% Of Capacity; Trash Screens Visible Above Penstocks On Dam Face [View all] hatrack 8 hrs ago OP

The fan dance with the beautiful destroyed Glen Canyon must be on. NNadir 7 hrs ago #1

And yet, still some good news - i.e. giving nature a chance to do what she does . . . hatrack 3 hrs ago #5

Thanks. What I don't see in the photographs is the David Brower Memorial Bathtub Ring in Glen Canyon. NNadir 3 hrs ago #6

True, most of the Escalante River is above the maximum reservoir elevation of 3,715 feet. hatrack 3 hrs ago #7

WHY? is it dropping? usaf-vet 4 hrs ago #2

20+ year drought, snowpack at 50% (at least at the moment), overallocation of water that's not there . . . hatrack 4 hrs ago #3

They've only had 81% of normal precipitation for the year (as it has been for many of the past decade) OnlinePoker 4 hrs ago #4

Toward the end he says something about a good snow pack this year could help to recharge the lake. flashman13 2 hrs ago #8