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“We have an unknown distance yet to run.  An unknown river to explore.  What falls there are, we know not; What rocks beset the channel, we know not; What walls ride over the river, we know not; Ah, well!  We may conjecture many things.” John Wesley Powell

“Ah Well!” Our motto for 2019

This year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of arguably the best “full send” (using the parlance of our time), of the last two hundred years.  Major John Wesley Powell, the one-armed Civil War veteran/geologist/explorer, set off on May 24, 1869 with ten men and four wooden boats on the Green River.  In three months, after trials, mishaps, and tragedies, they emerged at the confluence of the Trinidad and Colorado rivers in modern-day Nevada.  He was the first to map, chart, and experience in its entirety, much of the Green and Colorado Rivers through the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.  Many of the features, names of canyons, and rapids were all named by him.  We at Adrift Dinosaur are proud to offer tours through the Gates of Lodore, which was named by him as well as the rapid, “Disaster Falls.”  This was where, near the beginning of his trip, he lost his boat the “No Name” and lost many important provisions, food, and surveying gear.  Regardless of the mishap, he endured on.

Any modern adventurer that has run rivers in the American West, in some form or degree, carries the indomitable spirit of Powell within them.  It’s the courage to set off into the deep wild and chaotic unknown…to harness your fear, limitations and the enveloping environment around you…it’s the surrender in the calmest of currents, hypnotized by a veritable tapestry of earth tones from sandstone to limestone and shale, dating back to the Precambrian.  Along with all of that, there is the ineffable.  The peace, the chaos, the resolve of our creator to chip away at all that is terrestrial with one indomitable force that eventually carries all its deepest mysteries and bounties to the sea.

In the spirit of this anniversary and the man who had the resolve, fortitude, and cojones to explore and chart so much of the terrain we love, we have created not only a motto for the season but a discount code for some dates this summer.  We are pumped that we have already sold out seven of our launches and we continue to take reservations on our open slots.  Take advantage of this anniversary to connect for the first time or reconnect with our rivers in Dinosaur National Monument and the legacy of John Wesley Powell.

• Save 10%: Use code AHWELL10 at checkout (valid only for: 6/5, 6/20 Yampa, 6/28, 7/15, 8/30, 9/7 Lodore)