Rush on the Grand Canyon
We’re not saying this is what your summer should look like.
But if you wanted to go kayaking on a river, and the Colorado River was driving distance, we couldn’t stop you now could we?
Summer is right around the corner!
Looking to get away for a few days? Swing by Rocky Mountain National Park to trek across alpine trails, spot mountain goats, and hurry past berry-snacking black bears.
Our favorite attraction, though, would be the tiny streams of the Colorado River headwaters. Though hard to tell apart from other streams, eventually these little waterways become the mighty Colorado River.
Image via Aparofan’s World.
From Wyoming to Mexico, a Beautiful Time-Lapse Trip Down the Colorado River
Drawing rain runoff and snow melt from the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River is a dominant source of water for the American southwest, providing fresh water for drinking and farming and hydroelectric power to millions.
In 2011, Will Stauffer-Norris and Zak Podmore spent nearly four months kayaking and portaging and hiking the length of the Colorado River, from the Green River in Wyoming, which feeds into the Colorado, to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. That 113-day journey was crushed into this beautiful three-and-a-half-minute time-lapse, showcasing the varied landscapes of the southwest. Read more at Smithsonian.com.
Maybe you noticed, like we did, that the only part of their journey after leaving Wyoming that Will and Zak spent out of the water was the Colorado River Delta.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
By joining us in our efforts to Raise The River, you can be a part of nurturing the Colorado River from its beginnings in the Rocky Mountains to its home in the Pacific Ocean.
(Source: http://smithsonianmag.tumblr.com/)
Colorado River (Río Colorado), Arizona
The Colorado River. The great Canyon Carver.
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- picture by www.disputedwaters.com
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- Picture by Peter McBride
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- Picture from www.robertcampbellphotography.com
The Colorado River provides water for 30 million people.
Because it is so heavily tapped for agriculture, industry, and municipal uses along its course, the Colorado River rarely reaches its delta and the Gulf of California. About one-tenth of the river’s former flow now makes it to Mexico, where most of that is used for farming and cities .
It’s not uncommon to hear the Colorado River called the ‘Life Blood of the West.” It never fails to amaze us how these aerial photographs look like the blood vessels of the human body.
Can you imagine what would happen if your blood never made it to your finger tips? Or if the Colorado River never made it to its delta?