In 1776, explorer-missionary Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, along with fellow Spanish Franciscan Atanasio Domínguez led an expedition to find an overland route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to their mission in Monterey, California. Nearly a century later, the dramatic Escalante Creek, pictured here, was given his name by members of John Wesley Powell’s 1872 survey expedition.

Beautiful but dangerous, the deeply sculpted pools and steeply falling waters in this section create dangerous hydraulics that have claimed at least eight lives in recent years.

This Special Edition photograph is limited to total production of five prints. Each is hand numbered and signed by the artist.