The Don Englebreston Collection

Rain Squall and Faint Rainbow over an Eroded Canyon, Almost Certainly Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii, circa Late 1960s

Rain Squall and Faint Rainbow over an Eroded Canyon, Almost Certainly Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii, circa Late 1960s

Rain sweeps across a deep volcanic canyon while a faint band of rainbow hangs in the falling water at right. The bare red rim soil in the foreground, the banded ochre spurs below, and the forested massif opposite identify the site as Waimea Canyon on Kauai, Hawaii, where sun and squall meet frequently enough to make such rainbows a signature of the overlook. The frame belongs to the same trip as other Hawaiian slides in this sequence and is a civilian travel photograph, despite being filed with Vietnam-era aviation material; Hawaii was the principal leave and transit stop for American personnel moving to and from Southeast Asia. Heavy atmospheric haze has softened all distant detail. No text or insignia is visible. Project: 219827