Except for rare instances of high water flows in late Spring, the 'mighty' San Rafael River flows placidly from its sources in the Wasatch Plateau of central Utah to its terminus with the genuinely mighty Green River. The Green, of course, converges with the Colorado River, which then ultimately empties into the Sea of Cortez (a.k.a., the Gulf of California). Along these rivers' way, canyons have been cut, some of which --the Grand Canyon, for one-- you may have heard of or potentially visited.

The (mighty) San Rafael typically flows at a rate slightly below that which comes out of your garden hose (flow rates are usually expressed as 'cfs,' or cubic feet per second). But given time enough, water (and allied geologic forces) will accomplish some amazing things. Michelangelo-like in its ability to sculpt, all water requires is time enough and a piece of rock, and voila! The Valley of the Mighty San Rafael!

The final image is old; its a scan of an image shot on film in 1993. Its a view of what that placid ribbon of water --the Mighty San Rafael-- has accomplished to date, and is located some 10 or 15 miles upstream of the area shown in the preceding four images. The place is deep in what's called the San Rafael Swell, from a place called 'The Wedge Overlook.' The canyon below is sometimes called the Grand Canyon of the San Rafael.

Though I do not live along its banks, it is Home. No, that's not quite right: More accurately, that rock, and that water, is Family.