Ellsworth and Emery Kolb Book
In 1911, Ellsworth and Emery Kolb embarked on a wild adventure retracing the route Major John Wesley Powell took in 1869. What the Kolb brothers called, “The Big Trip” began on the Green River in Wyoming. They spent 101 days traveling the canyons of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona to film the first motion picture of running the rapids and exploring the canyons of the Southwest. This photographic quest challenged their mental and physical abilities unlike anything they had pursued previously. They endured heat, cold, broken equipment, and the
Finding Jewels in Junk – Captain John Hance
Grand Canyon’s First Official Tour Guide, Captain John Hance Some of my favorite moments at the Grand Canyon, whether guiding a rim tour or embarking on a river trip, are those spent learning and sharing “people stories.” These are tales of the adventurous men and women who came before us, explored this majestic place, and left their mark. We often refer to them as “ancestors”—those who came, lived, and shaped the legacy of this Grand Canyon. Among these ancestors, my all-time favorite is Captain John Hance—though “Captain” was a
How US Air Travel was Affected by a Grand Canyon Disaster
On June 30, 1956, Trans World Airlines Flight 2, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation with 64 passengers and 6 crew members departed Los Angeles bound for Kansas City at 9:01 AM on an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flight plan and a planned altitude of 19,000’. Three minutes later, United Airlines Flight 718, a DC-7 with 53 passengers and 5 crew members departed Los Angeles climbing to 21,000’ bound for Chicago. The planes’ paths would cross with 2,000’ of vertical separation approximately over the Grand Canyon. Shortly after takeoff, TWA