Descending, they recrossed the river and spent the whole afternoon trying to decide on a plan.

At last Powell reached a decision.
It was to lower the boats over the first portion, a fall of eighteen or twenty feet, then hug the right cliff to a point just above the second drop, where they could enter a little chute, and having passed this point they were to pull directly across the stream to avoid a dangerous rock below.

He told the men his intention of running the rapid the next morning, and they all crossed the river once more to a landing where it was possible to camp.
New and serious trouble now developed.

The elder Howland remonstrated with Powell against proceeding farther by the river and advised the abandonment of the enterprise altogether.

At any rate, he and his brother and William Dunn would not go on in the boats.