DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD
Reflections on A Colorado River Journey
Sunday, July 02 2023
Conditions are changing so fast in the Colorado River watershed that it is impossible now to keep up. I write this on April 14, 2023. In two successive days since I returned to North Dakota, my news feed has served up stories on Great Salt Lake.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Circumnavigating the Great Salt Lake in a Kayak
Monday, June 26 2023
Days 12 and 13, Tuesday/Wednesday: Salt Lake City
Clay visits Salt Lake City to talk with Scott Baxter a passionate advocate and student of the Great Salt Lake.…
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Farewell to Our Intrepid Guide and a Water in the West Reading List
Friday, June 23 2023
Days 10 and 11, Sunday/Monday: U.S. 89 to Utah 20; Utah 20 to I-15; I-15 to Salt Lake City.
A sad farewell as Frank, our scout and chief raconteur for the last 10 days, heads home to Escalante, Utah, and Clay and Dennis continue north to visit the Great Salt Lake.…
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
A Day on Lake Powell โ A Colorado River Journey
Saturday, June 17 2023
Clay and colleagues spend a glorious day on Lake Powell, a popular recreation destination with over 2,000 miles of shoreline, which hosts over 3 million visitors annually.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
A Quest for an Ancient Tree
Friday, June 16 2023
I co-led a hike in theย North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Parkย recently. There were about a dozen of us. Our goal was a very old cottonwood tree in an obscure corner of the park down by the Little Missouri River. The tree is said to date to 1641.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
A Different View of Glen Canyon and the Colorado River
Monday, June 12 2023
Iโve read about Leeโs Ferry all my life. Among other things, it is the portal for float trips in the Grand Canyon. Countless stories feature Leeโs Ferry or originate there. I watched several groups tuck their gear into rafts as they embarked on the great adventure. I was filled with envy and a kind of apprehension.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Unnamed, Unheralded Falls of North Dakota
Saturday, June 10 2023
Geographers say North Dakota has only one waterfall. Itโs a waterfall without a name, over in Ransom County, near the Minnesota border. For twenty years I have wanted to go see it.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Way of the Hopi โ A Colorado River Journey
Monday, June 05 2023
Snow was on the ground when we awoke on the second Hopi mesa. We feared a snowstorm, possibly a blizzard. We slipped and lurched to a remote coffee house that Dennis and Frank had scoped out the previous evening and then drove back to the Hopi Cultural Center, where we met Donald Dawahongnewa.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Thunderstorms, Cottonwoods on the Great Plains
Thursday, June 01 2023
Typically we donโt get genuine punishing thunderstorms until after Memorial Day. I sat in a camp chair on the porch and studied the sky.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Navajo Nation and Canyon de Chelly โ A Colorado River Journey
Tuesday, May 30 2023
Day Six, Wednesday: Canyon de Chelly; U.S. 191 to Burnside; Arizona 264 to Second Mesa.
Cattle traveling the Chinle Wash in Canyon de Chelly, part of the Navajo Nation.…
- Published in Dispatches from the Road