Kevin Fedarko · 2013 · river

Kevin Fedarko's 2013 account of a record run. In the great Colorado flood of 1983, with Glen Canyon Dam close to failure, boatman Kenton Grua and two crew slipped a wooden dory called the Emerald Mile onto the swollen river at night and rode the flood. Their goal: the fastest passage ever through the Grand Canyon - from Lees Ferry, through Crystal and Lava Falls, to Lake Mead.

1. 1
   Lees Ferry

   Fifteen miles below Glen Canyon Dam, at mile zero of every Grand Canyon run, Grua and his two crewmen launch the dory into the flooding Colorado at night, illegally, betting everything on the high water.

2. 2
   Crystal Rapid

   In the heart of the inner gorge lies Crystal, one of the river's deadliest rapids, made monstrous by the flood - the run's great gamble, taken at full speed in the dark and half-swamped but upright.

3. 3
   Lava Falls

   Downstream waits Lava Falls, the biggest drop on the Colorado, a wall of white water where the dory plunges and climbs, the crew rowing for their lives to keep her off the rocks.

4. 4
   Lake Mead

   Where the canyon walls fall away at the Grand Wash Cliffs and the river slackens into Lake Mead, the Emerald Mile finishes - the fastest boat ever through the Grand Canyon, a record that still stands.