M . A . T . K . A . T . A . M . I . B . A Mat . kat . a . mi . ba Matkatamiba. At first the name seems to be a bit of a tongue twister but once you get it, it just rolls off the tongue so smoothly. I just love saying it! Matkamiba, also known by its shortened name of Matkat, is a slot canyon that enters the Colorado River on river left at mile 148.4. The outflow creates Matkatamiba Rapid. Matkatamiba Canyon starts about 6 ½ miles to the southeast on the west side of the Great Thumb Mesa. A hiker could walk straight east from the head of Matkat Canyon and over look down onto Fossil Rapid located back upstream at mile 126. For this panorama we have journeyed up through the Matkatamiba slot canyon making our way through the clear stream, climbing up the step-sided Tapeats layers, and tip-toed along the narrow trail along the terrace gardens to find ourselves in this great sandstone plaza at the top of the Tapeats formation. This is one of my favorite areas in the Grand Canyon. The hike from the river is relatively easy and short. Yet, it is so different from the river corridor. Here, there are no roaring river rapids, just the soft sounds of water trickling over small rock ledges. Here, there is no muddy water, just the crystal clear water that allows the subtle hues of the mossy stream bottom to show through. Here, as elsewhere, there are red rocks, but they are contrasted with the vibrant green of the hanging gardens. Here, it is even easy to find a place to sit down with many flat ledges so conveniently placed for lazing or taking in a picnic lunch. It would be so nice if we could stay here for hours, or days, instead of using it as a rest stop on our voyage down the Colorado River. To view this panorama in higher resolution, with faster performance, and with maps, annotations, and links to other project panoramas (check out that really cool "orange dot" feature that Larry Wieland designed), click on the following link: https://project.gcpano.org/?enterAt=MatkatamibaPlaza.pan GCPano.org