The Resurgent Dream
11-09-2007, 08:45
Canyon Falls, Aravana, named for the natural landmark of the same name, had a population of 1,159. At any given moment, however, between 12,000 and 13,000 people were actually in Canyon Falls. 112 million people visited every year, substantially more people than actually resided in all of Aravana.
The canyon in Canyon Falls was actually a gorge. It was roughly 112 kilometers long and two kilometers deep at its deepest point. It was four kilometers wide at its widest but for most of its length was only a few hundred meters across. Its steep walls were colorful, carved from the landscape by the Aguila River over countless millions of years and showing bright bands of sedimentary rock dating from different periods in the history of the Earth. Still, if the gorge stood alone, it would be at best a local landmark.
What made Canyon Falls remarkable was a much younger river, the Naras, which ran perpendicular to the Aguila. The Naras was only a few meters deep and rather wide and it poured headlong into the gorge at a relatively narrow and deep point. This not only created an extremely broad waterfall that seemed to cascade endlessly into a great depth but also created one of the very few waterfalls in the world where a visitor could stand safely and naturally on a position at the top facing, rather than beside, the falls. It was the view on this spot that drew tourists from far and wide.
Of course, like most tourists attractions, Canyon Falls drew most of its visitors from relatively nearby and drew fewer and fewer the further away one went. Looking at the crowds which swarmed around Canyon Falls on any given day, one could almost imagine the visitors organized in concentric circles. At the core would be the large plurality of visitors hailing from throughout Laneria. Expanding outwards, one would fine a slight majority of visitors coming from somewhere in Confederal Vasconia. A large majority hailed from somewhere in the Confederated Peoples and almost everyone hailed from somewhere in the Western Atlantic. Only a smattering of visitors came from further a field.
Among the guests present on 11 September was one Miriam Rabin, enjoying a brief break from university with some of her friends. Miriam was a tall woman with a thick but not a fat figure. She had dark red hair and normally wore the bright smile of someone who saw only hope in her future. Canyon Falls wasn’t exactly the shore and it didn’t create quite the same atmosphere of flirtation but Miriam had been batting away the guys all week. She and her friends had come here to relax a little after a stressful first few weeks of higher education. She wanted to simply enjoy the scenery and their companionship and finish the cheesy genre novel she was reading, the one she always left facedown in the hopes that no one would detect it.
It was this search for relaxation which led Miriam to pick up a few pamphlets about the petroglyphs of the Aravana desert. While interesting, they attracted fairly tourists and she and her friends could travel from one sight to another without having to deal with any obnoxious crowds. Pamphlets in hand, Miriam headed back to their rooms. She wasn’t sure if the others would all be there but she wanted to get an early start on trying to convince them to indulge her on one of the last days of their trip.
The canyon in Canyon Falls was actually a gorge. It was roughly 112 kilometers long and two kilometers deep at its deepest point. It was four kilometers wide at its widest but for most of its length was only a few hundred meters across. Its steep walls were colorful, carved from the landscape by the Aguila River over countless millions of years and showing bright bands of sedimentary rock dating from different periods in the history of the Earth. Still, if the gorge stood alone, it would be at best a local landmark.
What made Canyon Falls remarkable was a much younger river, the Naras, which ran perpendicular to the Aguila. The Naras was only a few meters deep and rather wide and it poured headlong into the gorge at a relatively narrow and deep point. This not only created an extremely broad waterfall that seemed to cascade endlessly into a great depth but also created one of the very few waterfalls in the world where a visitor could stand safely and naturally on a position at the top facing, rather than beside, the falls. It was the view on this spot that drew tourists from far and wide.
Of course, like most tourists attractions, Canyon Falls drew most of its visitors from relatively nearby and drew fewer and fewer the further away one went. Looking at the crowds which swarmed around Canyon Falls on any given day, one could almost imagine the visitors organized in concentric circles. At the core would be the large plurality of visitors hailing from throughout Laneria. Expanding outwards, one would fine a slight majority of visitors coming from somewhere in Confederal Vasconia. A large majority hailed from somewhere in the Confederated Peoples and almost everyone hailed from somewhere in the Western Atlantic. Only a smattering of visitors came from further a field.
Among the guests present on 11 September was one Miriam Rabin, enjoying a brief break from university with some of her friends. Miriam was a tall woman with a thick but not a fat figure. She had dark red hair and normally wore the bright smile of someone who saw only hope in her future. Canyon Falls wasn’t exactly the shore and it didn’t create quite the same atmosphere of flirtation but Miriam had been batting away the guys all week. She and her friends had come here to relax a little after a stressful first few weeks of higher education. She wanted to simply enjoy the scenery and their companionship and finish the cheesy genre novel she was reading, the one she always left facedown in the hopes that no one would detect it.
It was this search for relaxation which led Miriam to pick up a few pamphlets about the petroglyphs of the Aravana desert. While interesting, they attracted fairly tourists and she and her friends could travel from one sight to another without having to deal with any obnoxious crowds. Pamphlets in hand, Miriam headed back to their rooms. She wasn’t sure if the others would all be there but she wanted to get an early start on trying to convince them to indulge her on one of the last days of their trip.