Desert Solitaire

Abbey begins the chapter by cursing the latest Colorado River dam project and the destructive impact it will inevitably have on Glen Canyon.

He then recounts a long trip on the river through the canyon with his friend Ralph Newcomb, in “two little rubber boats” (189), which they unfold from suitcase-sized cartons. The men relish the rough rapids and the cool quiet nights camping on the river’s shores. Abbey beholds the magnificence of Glen Canyon as they pass through on their journey, and he fantasizes about an “unknown hero” (205) who will dynamite the dam before it can be constructed. With some mixture of defiance and grief at this point, Abbey again praises the wilderness in graceful and exalted terms.

Abbey describes a long, wondrous hike that he takes by himself, without Ralph Newcomb (who only has one good leg and cannot hike), from one of their campsites, through the Escalante gorge. He finds petroglyphs in caves, sees ancient cliff dwellings above his head, imagines the life of the ancient cliff dwellers, and wonders how and why they were ultimately moved to abandon their homes.

Abbey returns to the campsite. The next morning, he and Newcomb begin their journey back toward civilization. Abbey describes the “tantalizing views” (227) they are gifted with and the “hanging canyons” (227) they pass beneath.

That evening, they pitch camp at Hole in the Rock, an historic 1880s Mormon settlement, long abandoned. From here, Abbey embarks on a solitary hike up an old trail, neglecting to take his canteen. Soon, he is so profoundly thirsty that upon “finding moisture leaking from the rock and dampening the sand beneath,” (230) he puts wet sand in his mouth, “extracting what refreshment [he] can from it” (230). Abbey continues up the trail until he attains the view he seeks, of near and distant mountain ranges and clouds.

Abbey returns to camp; he and Newcomb resume their journey, communing through brief words and pregnant silences over the beauty of their surroundings and a shared sense of timelessness. While investigating one side canyon, Abbey accidentally starts a brush fire that he only narrowly escapes. As they pass other tributary canyons, Abbey seeks a trail to the legendary Rainbow Bridge, the world’s largest natural bridge, long considered sacred by the Navajos. Sadly, when he does find the right trail, he sees that it is littered with the detritus of tourists: “Slobivious americanus has been here first.” (238) Nonetheless, Abbey’s solo trek to the breathtaking bridge is the grandeur-laced climax to this river trip.

The chapter ends on a sad note. Rounding a bend in the river, Abbey and Newcombe behold “the first billboard ever erected in Glen Canyon” (245). It is a warning that they are approaching the dam construction zone, where boats are disallowed.