the emerald mile summary

The chapter ends with a geographical overview of the canyon and the Colorado river in comparison to other parts of the world. Epilogue: The Legend of the Emerald Mile (342-354). Showing all 1 items Jump to: Summaries (1) Summaries. Details are posted at journalism.unt.edu/maybornconference. “Every mile or so, the walls opened and gave way to yet another side canyon filled with secret springs and waterfalls,” he writes. Just a few days later, Powell and his men reach the end of the canyon and successfully complete their journey. Kenton Grua was fascinated by dories and the river. Tour West, another rafting company, sets out towards Crystal Rapid. The Epic Story of the FastestRide in History Through theHeart of the Grand Canyon. Kevin Fedarko is among the writers scheduled to appear at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, July 19-21 in Grapevine. Chapter 22 “Perfection in a Wave” (293-305). Despite much debate and controversy, the building of the Glen Canyon Dam was approved in 1956. Chapter 15 “The Mouth of the Dragon” (202-213). Emerald Mile Book Review by Nancy Green Ready for a rollicking story that sets you on the edge of your seat – even though you know how this tale goes? Now that Crystal Rapid was created, the river guides on the Colorado River had to learn how to navigate it. This particular landslide changed the composition of the canyon walls so much that it created a new rapid: Crystal Rapid, one of the most “dreadful stretches of white water in the West.”, Chapter 9 “The Death of the Emerald Mile” (124-137) *OK TO SKIM. The Emerald Mile is ostensibly a book about Kenton Grua’s illicit speed run through Grand Canyon in a dory when record levels of water were being released from the dam in 1983, but it’s actually quite a bit more. The Emerald Mile The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Though the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Book) : Fedarko, Kevin : From one of Outside magazine's Literary All-Stars comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, during the legendary flood of 1983. Chapter 20 “The Doing of the Thing” (268-278) *OK TO SKIM EXCEPT FOR PAGES 271-273. “The air was alive with pink-and-lavender dragonflies that paused, twitchingly, on the shafts of their suspended oars.” Finally, Fedarko reflects on some of the book’s larger themes: man’s interaction with nature, risk taking, and environmental conservation vs. human progress. The men who abandoned the expedition were killed by Native Americans while searching for a settlement. That refusal to give up is the essence of The Emerald Mile, the thread linking the earliest Spanish explorers to Maj. John Wesley Powell's explorations with his ragtag fleet, then the builders of America's great dams and the ultimate success of these three bold men in a very small boat. The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. They hurriedly put the boat in the water, get in and row away into the night. His defense was that the superintendent's failure to call him back officially saying that the speed run was prohibited, was equivalent to approval. With expanding his business, Litton also began to attract guides that were more free spirits and had a respect for the river and the canyon. The Emerald Mile is an impressive work and incredible story on many levels. The Emerald Mile. At the end of this chapter, the reader discovers whether or not Grua and his crew set the speed record in the Emerald Mile. After hours of painstaking observation and many damaged boats, Litton’s crew finally learned how to get through Crystal Rapid. With the river raging, tossing tour boats like toys, Kenton Grua, Steve “Wren” Reynolds and Rudi Petschek set out, without a permit, at precisely 11 p.m. on June 25, 1983. “The instant the hull penetrated the main current, the boat felt as if it had been shunted onto a set of rails and coupled to a runaway freight train,” Fedarko writes. This one is, and Fedarko’s book is as inspiring as a … The saga of “The Emerald Mile” is a thrilling adventure, as well as a magisterial portrait of the hidden kingdom of white water at the bottom of the greatest river canyon on earth. The lake, therefore, ran the risk of overflowing or failing, causing severe flooding. The Emerald Mile : the epic story of the fastest ride in history through the heart of the Grand Canyon by ... Summary. The Emerald Mile The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon (Book) : Fedarko, Kevin : The epic story of the fastest boat ride in history, on a hand-built dory named the "Emerald Mile, " through the heart of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado river. Faced with this massive canyon, Fedarko describes how the explorers were in awe because it was unlike anything they had seen in scope, magnitude, or beauty. That spring, a massive snowmelt sent runoff racing down the Colorado River toward the Glen Canyon Dam. While these conditions excited Grua, they put the Glen Canyon Dam at risk. A boat called "The Emerald Mile" sails down the Colorado River during an epic flood in record time. Crystal Rapid, the most complex and dangerous rapid in the Colorado River, became a personal challenge for Grua. Then, a truck towing a boat called. One passenger, Bill Wert, was killed by the impact of a piece of equipment being flung from the boat into his chest. The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. Towards the end of the chapter, Fedarko suggests that other rafting companies chose to use inflatable rafts that were safer and easier to use, but that lacked the grace and skill required to master the Colorado River on dories. When George Crawford opened his hard-cover edition of The Emerald Mile by Keven Fedarko, I heard gasps of surprise in the room. In the mountains that feed the Colorado with snowmelt, the winter of 1983 had been like no other, with such incredible amounts of snow that the melt seemed unending. For those that don’t know, the southwest experienced record rainfalls in the El Nino year of 1983. This knowledge, gained by hours of painstaking observation and by testing the paths of different objects moving down the river, empowered the rafters to more safely navigate the river. Chapter 13 “Deluge” (181-189) *OK TO SKIM. If traversed unsuccessfully, the rapid could literally rip boats apart, especially the little wooden dories. While this gave Gamble slightly more time to figure out how to fix the spillways and release water from the lake, several other problems, like major leaks and vibrations, were discovered throughout the dam. pulls up and three men get out. Operators who were surveying the dam for damage heard a thunderous sound coming from deep inside the structure, which indicated damage. All three men claw their way to the shore, where they have to use their collective weight to pull the Emerald Mile back to shore and make further repairs. It’s a very simple story. We’ll get to The Emerald Mile – but first, some river history. Grua decides that this is a perfect opportunity to break his speed record and seeks permission from the Park Service. Sometimes, he even risked the safety of his fellow passengers during runs through the rapid. Each of the three was a superb boatman, but The Emerald Mile is largely the story of Grua — a short, powerful man of obsessive tenacity. Down river, three boatmen had a crazy plan: use the raging river to slingshot a wooden boat called the Emerald Mile through the Grand Canyon faster than any vessel ever. The dam’s operators released as much water as they thought they safely could, a flow so extreme that it was already ripping up the concrete that lined the outflow tunnels, yet the water kept rising. Chapter 12 “Thunder on the Water” (171-177), Chapter 16 “Raising the Castle Walls” (214-228), Chapter 20 “The Doing of the Thing” (268-278). The guides had miscalculated the intricacies of the rapid and the first boat through is torn to pieces, literally destroyed. After a pause and debate over whether or not to quit the run, Grua and his men “scramble” back in the Emerald Mile. SPOILER ALERT STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS: The boat flipped keel over stern, throwing the men into the river and causing one crewman to get sucked down through the rapid to the bottom of the river. In the spring of 2003, I saw my very first whitewater dory when I walked into a boathouse on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona. In this chapter, Fedarko introduces John Wesley Powell’s background of being an explorer, his family, and his role in the Civil War. Their 600 foot journey through the pitch dark tunnels reveals that a small 1” deformity in the tunnel’s concrete caused air bubbles that created holes in the tunnel that were several feet wide and several feet deep. The Emerald Mile : the epic story of the fastest ride in history through the heart of the Grand Canyon by ... Summary. Grua to attempt another speed run, he even risked the safety of his trips about the beauties unique... 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