Your River History

March 19, 2008 | Blue Trails

Matt Rice
Director, Colorado Conservation

Rivers are cool. I know there are a lot more descriptive and eloquent ways to describe a river, but somehow I think it works best. I would be willing to bet that the majority of river related professionals from river guides to fluvial geomorphologists started the pursuit of their respective professions because they thought in the very beginning, before they knew anything about hydraulics or sediment transport or endangered darters, that rivers were simply cool. I certainly did. Rivers are cool for countless reasons, one being they help define periods in our lives.

Our lives are divided into time periods; childhood, high school, college or pre-marriage, post marriage, kids or by jobs, locations, pets etc. Try using rivers as the variable. I will use my life as an example.

Here is a condensed version:

• Russian River, California: late 1970s--I don't remember this period but I have seen several pictures of myself naked on the banks of this cool northern California River.
• Hudson River, New York City: early to mid 1980s--I think I first muttered the words "rivers are cool" on this river.
• Boulder Creek, Colorado: Mid 1980s to mid 1990s--I came of age on this river, fly fishing, tubing, and just hanging out. It will always be one of my favorites.
• Yellowstone River, Montana: early 1990s to 2000--I went to Montana State University because the rivers are especially cool in the Bozeman area.
• Zambezi River, Zambia 2000-2004--I fished and paddled this beautiful and terrifying river every chance I got during my service in the Peace Corps.
• River to be determined, Columbia, South Carolina -- 2007-??? There are so many cool rivers in the Southeast it will be difficult to choose one. Then again I won't have to choose just one. Many rivers can define periods in our life- only time will tell.

I want to apologize to all the worthy rivers I left out, there are certainly many more that have had an impact on my life. Let us know about a river that helps define a period in your life.

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