The plan fell apart. The purpose didn't.
739 miles down the Colorado River: wildfire detours, Lake Powell, and why purpose matters more than the plan
We're officially over a quarter of the way through this epic 2,000 mile run down the Colorado River!
739 miles done and dusted. My feet are screaming, the heat is relentless, and this stretch has shown me just how quickly even the best-laid plans can unravel.
We spent years planning every mile of this expedition. Then wildfires tore through Colorado and Utah, tragically claiming the lives of three firefighters and forcing us to reroute. Our backup plan was to paddle upstream to reconnect with the route, but changing river conditions made that unsafe too. The only responsible option was to drive around.
I was determined this 2,000-mile run would be continuous. Driving around that obstacle was devastating because it meant letting go of the one promise I'd made to myself before this expedition even began.
But I kept hearing my mentor's voice in the back of my head:
"Don't confuse your purpose with your goal. The goal is to run 2,000 miles down the Colorado, but your purpose is to help build a more resilient future for the river and the communities it sustains.”
He’s exactly right. I’m here to bear witness to the challenges facing this river and to tell those stories honestly. Sometimes, staying true to your purpose means adapting when you can't control the path ahead.
That wisdom carried me to Lake Powell and Bullfrog Marina where I met Mary, who's lived there for 26 years. She showed us photos from 2002, when houseboats were tied up where we were standing. Today, the marina has been physically towed across the lake to reach deeper water.
Between impromptu campsite toe surgery with Damien and soaking my shirts in water just to survive the heat, this stretch has tested me. But there’s been joy too, like seeing real dinosaur footprints, finding a barista in the middle of nowhere and meeting incredible people along the way.
In the middle of it all, we launched the "State of the Basin Report: A Guide to the Colorado River Crisis.” It’s the first report to reveal the full scope of the problem: a long-term shift to a hotter, drier American West, with 16 million jobs and $1.4 trillion at stake. But I’m not out here running 2,000 miles just to show there’s a problem. I’m here to show we can tackle it, together.
Thankyou all for your messages, comments and words of encouragement. On the days when everything hurts and the finish line feels impossibly far away, they remind me I'm not doing this alone
I can't wait to share what the next stretch of river has in store.
With gratitude,
Mina | #KeepTheRiverRunning
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