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Sunrise over the Colorado River near Blythe, CA. Photo by Alexander Stephens, Bureau of Reclamation.

Every once in a while it’s nice to take a step back and remember what we’re working hard to protect and revitalize. With a view like this, courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation, who wouldn’t want to restore the Colorado River Delta? 

Paddling the Colorado River Pulse Flow

The conservationists hope the pulse will bring back the willows and cottonwoods that once lined the valley, and restore habitat for the birds and wildlife that once thrived there.

My goal was more selfish. I wanted to see whether I could bash through the non-native reeds and tamarisk that clog the riverbed, and eventually make it to the ocean. I figured I’d never get another chance.

My videographer friend Todd Lynch and Victor Leon, a sea kayaker from Ensenada Mexico, saw it the same way and rallied to join me in Northern Baja. We expected to find a parched desert, but there’s water everywhere in the delta—in irrigation canals that criss-cross the region, and puddled at the edge of farm fields. It’s in the cotton, wheat and alfalfa this valley is famous for producing. The water seemed to be everywhere but in the riverbed, which was covered in sand so dry it sucked the moisture out of my skin.

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We’ve been posting quotes and videos from Jeff Moag’s paddling trip down the Colorado River. For those of us who have been following the pulse flow, Jeff makes it feel like we’re there ourselves. Who knows, if all goes well, there could be a paddling trip in all of our futures.  

mapsontheweb:

Map of the Major Dams along the Colorado River and its Tributaries.

We’ve blogged a great deal about Morelos Dam – the last dam on the Colorado River. Curious how many others there are? 

Jeff Moag, Editor in Chief of Canoe and Kayak Magazine, paddled the Colorado River with Victor Leon. 

Check out his first-in-a-lifetime trip. If we can keep supporting agreements like Minute 319, it won’t have to be the last. 

We wanted to slow down and savor this rare experience, floating through a desert that had seen water only a handful of times in the last 30 years. In the end we traveled a little more than 40 miles, less than half the distance to the Gulf. But years of paddling have taught me never to underestimate a river, and the the Pulse Flow isn’t finished yet.

Jeff Moag, Editor in Chief of Canoe and Kayak Magazine, paddled the Colorado River with Victor Leon.