This pretty much sums up rafting.

Evening light downstream of Moab, UT.

White stripe in Cataract Canyon.

Hackysack high above the river, at The Loop.

The Doll’s House, Cataract Canyon.

Big Drop #3 in Cataract Canyon.

The team at Hite, UT, with Lake Powell in the background. Photo by Brendan Boepple.

Desert plains near Hanksville, UT

Many great blue herons have chicks at their nests close to the river (and the road).

Zak shows his Wu-tang Clan pride next to the graffiti under a bridge in Silt, CO. We passed many towns along the I-70 corridor past Glenwood. It has been strange to be traveling via river and camping out despite being next to civilization.

Between Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, gas development is in full swing. Fracking (pumping mixtures of water and chemicals underground to extract natural gas) is commonplace, even near the river.

Will holds a garter snake. Even along I-70, the riparian corridor is filled with life.

Portaging Cameo Dam after a run-in with the dam keeper.  This is operated by the Bureau of reclamation and is one of the most important diversions on the Colorado- Its water rights are even senior to those owned by Denver and can force water to remain on the west side of the continental divide. This water is mainly used for crop irrigation in the Grand Valley.

David paddles a fish ladder/diversion dam upstream from Grand Junction, CO.

Will stands at the last in a series of diversions before the “15 miles reach” between Pallisade and Grand Junction, CO. The 15 mile reach is a section of river that is nearly dewatered to irrigate crops in the Grand Valley. Most of the water returns to the river by seeping through the ground or by flowing all the way through the irrigation ditches. We began the day with approximately 2700 CFS. Only 400 cfs remained for the 15 mile reach.

Harvesting wheat in Fruita, CO. We spoke with the farmer who owns this land and he explained to us that water projects are entirely necessary for the future of agriculture in the West and that we need to build more dams to manage the river properly for this purpose.

Sunset in Ruby Horsetheif, just downstream from Fruita, CO. A park ranger informed us that this section of river sees 25,000 visitors each year.

A collared lizard in Westwater.

The crew paddles through the rapids of Westwater Canyon, UT. This is the first long stretch of river away from roads and railroads since Rocky Mountain National Park.

Lightning illuminates the clouds and canyon walls in Westwater.

Floating through the flat water on a hot day.Hiding out in the shade of our sweet wing on day 2 of Westwater. We discussed the Colorado Plateau with author Steve Trimble, left.

Mike White joined us to float from Westwater to the Dolores Confluence. Mike works with the Southwest Conservation Corps to coordinate wilderness work crews that remove invasive tamarisk trees along the Dolores river. Behind him you can see an entire bank of defoliated tamarisk.

We were greeted with beautiful afternoon light on the canyon walls as we approached the Canyons near Moab, Utah.

Standing at La Poudre Pass… the Colorado headwaters are on the left, the Grand Ditch (which diverts water to the Front Range) is on the right. Photo by Beth.

Waterfall near base camp. Photo by David.We decided to hike down from La Poudre Pass and up a different tributary, North Inlet, for a few days.

The Rocky Mountain National Park alpine. Photo by Will.

After five or so miles of bushwhacking through downed trees, we got up near treeline.

The expedition begins. Photo by Will.

Our destination was Lake Powell, an alpine lake. From here it’s over 400 miles to Lake Powell (the other one).

Will packrafting on a creek that was mostly too shallow and filled with logs. Photo by David.

More packrafting. Photo by David.

Grand Lake. Photo by David.

Everyone we’ve met has been extremely helpful, kind, and interesting. We slept on Jane and Richard’s (two local landowners) beach last night, with a great view of the lake.

Moose. Photo by Will.

Remains of a River Trailer from NRS Films on Vimeo.

Two friends. 113 days. 1,700 miles. One endangered river.

From October 2011 to January 2012, Will Stauffer-Norris and Zak Podmore hiked and paddled from Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains to Mexico following the Colorado River system from its farthest inland source to the sea, filming and narrating on the fly. The resulting film series, Remains of a River, is an unforgettable story of friendship, adventure and environmental degradation. At turns inspiring and alarming, these ten short works will have you laughing, marveling, shaking your head, and maybe planning an adventure of your own.

Beginning June 29, a new Remains of a River episode will premiere every Friday throughout the summer. You can get each new installment fresh off the press by subscribing to our RSS Feed, or on our Vimeo channel.