Rivers

Rivers have been carving their way through this country since long before anyone thought to draw a line across it and call it a boundary. They wander through sandstone wilderness, plunge into forgotten gorges, and carry the occasional fortunate fool into places no road will ever reach.

There is a particular freedom in surrendering to the current. The miles pass at the river's pleasure. The canyon walls rise, the world grows quiet, and for a few glorious days, civilization becomes somebody else's problem.

SAN JUAN RIVER USGS

The Salt River flowing below sunlit cliffs and green desert slopes, with a blue raft downstream

Salt River

Arizona

Beneath the cactus and the burning stone, the desert finds its voice in whitewater.

A yellow raft on the Colorado River beneath the layered cliffs of Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Arizona

Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek, through the heart of the canyon.

A raft floating below towering cliffs in warm afternoon light

Diamond Down

Diamond Creek · Pearce Ferry, Arizona

Diamond Creek to Pearce Ferry, through the final reaches of Grand Canyon.

A raft on a sandy bank beneath the canyon walls in the Gates of Lodore trip collection

Gates of Lodore

Colorado · Utah

Between the gates of ancient stone, the Green carries us beyond the reach of ordinary days.

Sunlit canyon walls above brown river water in the Desolation Canyon trip collection

Desolation Canyon

Utah

Here the cliffs keep the centuries, and the river gives us back the hours.

A blue raft on brown river water below red rock and cottonwoods in the San Juan trip collection

Upper San Juan

Utah

The desert loosens its hold, grain by grain, and travels with us down the San Juan.

A raft on the Salmon River below forested mountain slopes

Main Salmon

Idaho

Deep in the mountains, the river of no return carries everything we came to leave behind.

An orange packraft rounds a bend beneath red sandstone cliffs and a blue sky on the Escalante River.

Escalante River

Utah

Packrafting from Highway 12 to Coyote Gulch, deep in Escalante canyon country.

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Photographs and dated journeys from time spent along the water.