Nature's Greatest Waterpark by Lukas Kamrath

After an hour-long flight in a tiny six-person plane, we touched down on top of a mesa in Desolation Canyon. We were in Moab, Utah and were just beginning a white-water rafting trip on the Green River. The closest road was over 100 miles away and other than our group of 17, we would barely see another living soul throughout our journey. The Green River is completely remote – no internet connection, no supermarket, no shelter other than our tents. There was no way of knowing what was going on in the world outside of our small group of rafters for the entire six days.

Starting off down the river, as the water splashed over the front of my inflatable kayak, I began to think I was in heaven. It became easy to forget about the things that cause stress and instead care only about the present moment, admire the beauty of Mother Nature and realize how lucky I was to have an opportunity to raft down one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. After a long day on the water under the blazing sun, each night my family and our new friends gathered around a campfire and played card games and told stories while digging our feet into the sand. I don't know about you, but this is heaven for me. Instead of going to the bathroom while looking at my phone, during this trip, the “groover,” as our handy travel toilet was called, was set up in stunning locations over-looking the river, under the cover of an old cottonwood tree or on a beach. Instead of sleeping in my bed with air conditioning, I slept outside with the wind on my face. Instead of showering at the end of each day, I always had the river to clean me up and cool me off. By living on the river, I began to gain a greater appreciation for the river.

In addition to being more in the moment and having a ton of fun, this trip also turned out to be very educational. The trip was hosted by a group called “Save the Colorado” and the founder, Gary Wockner, spoke each night to tell us about the work he and his non-profit organization are doing to save rivers all across the world. You might be wondering why rivers need help and what is causing them harm. One of the primary causes of damage to these amazing ecological systems are dams. There are 800,000 dams worldwide and 84,000 dams in the US alone. Dams destroy the delicate and complex systems because rivers are meant to flow, not sit still. Although dams help provide water to places which may not normally have enough for the people living there, or for the agriculture, or energy use, the more I learned about the negatives caused by these structures, the more it seems like we should find other alternatives. The best option is to conserve water but there are other options such as desalinating ocean water and using wind turbines to generate energy. When a dam stunts the natural flow of water, the water levels rise dramatically causing flooding which kills animals and habitats. They have also displaced 40 to 80 million people across the world. Sadly dams have destroyed many historical artifacts and pictographs left by our ancestors that can never be recovered. Significantly, they also prevent fish from migrating back upstream to reproduce. This is driving many varieties of native river fish into near extinction. At the rates at which water is being taken from the rivers, some are being completely drained before they even reach their intended outlet. Many dams are also breaking down over time as they become clogged with sediment indicating that dams are not a good long-term solution to the water and energy shortage issues.

I learned a great deal about rivers and how they are endangered, but most importantly, I experienced the river. Our amazing lead guide, Lars Harr (photo below), who has been taking people on rafting trips for over 19 years, shared a quote that the founder of the OARS rafting company often shared with him and others. "We protect what we love, and we love what we know." This quote was originally spoken by the famous oceanograpther, Jacques Cousteau. I hope that many others have the same opportunity to spend time rafting because I know if more people are able to enjoy the scenery and the spectacular experience of living on the river, then they too will understand why keeping rivers alive and free is so essential. They are nature’s most thrilling and enjoyable “waterparks.”

I definitely recommend watching the fantastic documentary DamNation in order to learn more about this topic. You can watch it on AmazonPrime.

And check out the short video of the rapids we posted on Instagram @otb_year.