The river descends throughout Lodore with great rapidity and every day brought with it hard work and narrow escapes.  Sometimes the danger was of a novel and unexpected character, as on June l6th, when the dry willows around camp caught fire.  Powell had started for a climb of investigation and looking down on the camp he perceived a sudden tremendous activity without being able for some moments to discover the cause.  So rapidly did the fire spread that there was no escape except by the boats.  Some had their clothing burned and their hair singed, while Bradley even had his ears scorched.  The cook in his haste stumbled with his arms full of culinary utensils, and the load disappeared beneath the waters, ever on the alert to swallow up man, boat, or beast.  Just below the camp was a rapid and, casting off, they were forced to run this without stopping to examine it.  No harm was done to the boats, and they landed at the first opportunity.  When the fire had burned out they went back along the rocks to pick up what had been left behind and was unconsumed.  On the same day, as the men were in the act of lowering a boat by lines, she broke away and started on an independent run.  Fortunately, she soon became entangled in an eddy, where she halted long enough to permit them to hurry down the small boat and recapture her.  Sometimes the channel was beset with innumerable great rocks, amidst which the river seethed and boiled in a manner sufficient to terrify any boatmen, but, luckily, they were able to work their way cautiously along, and without further disaster they came, on the 17th of June, to a place where the walls broke away and they emerged into a beautiful park-like widening of the canyon with bounding cliffs only about 600 feet high near the river.  After the continuous cliffs of from 2000 to 2500 feet this place seemed like open country.  Once more they camped in a quiet place at the mouth of a river entering through a deep canyon on the left or east side.  It was the Yampa, sometimes called Bear River.  After a side trip of several hours up this canyon they started again on the descent and, skirting the smooth perpendicular wall which forms the west side of Echo Park, they turned a corner and found themselves in a new gorge, which, on account of many whirlpools existing at that stage of water, was called Whirlpool Canyon.  The run through this was accomplished with great rapidity, as there were no serious obstacles, and in two days the expedition emerged into another expansion of the walls, where the tired men had a brief respite before they perceived the rocks, again closing in on the water.