Tuesday, September 27th, 2022
Again, I was up in time to make the 40 minute trip to the trailhead before sunrise. This time, to the Murphy Point Trail, a straight out and back 4 mile hike. The overlook provided a view over the canyons of the Green River, north of where it merges with the Colorado River.
There is some controversy over the true source of the river that carved the Grand Canyon. The Green River, which has its source in the Wind River Range of Wyoming, covers a larger drainage area than the shorter river coming from Colorado. Originally called the Grand River, as it flows through the Grand Canyon, it actually contributes more volume than the Green. In the 1920s, the politician Edward Taylor, demanded that the river be renamed to match his state stating:
“We have in Colorado no State pride in the name “Grand”. That name is merely an adjective, and does not mean anything but larger or great, and might be applied to any large or beautiful stream. Practically everything in Colorado is grand, and as applied to a river it is a very commonplace name…. For the past 60 years, “Colorado” has meant the heart of the Golden West, the actual top of the world, the land of the sunshine, good health, and gorgeous scenery, the summer playground of the nation, the Switzerland of America, the bright jewel set in the crest of the continent, where it shines as the Kohinoor of all the gems of the Union; the sublime Centennial State.”
He got his way. And so the Green merges with the Colorado, which cuts its way west through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
Starting All Over 