On October 3rd, 2005, fourteen students and three instructors from Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona, will depart in rafts from Flaming Gorge, Utah on the Green River to begin a legendary journey. After seventy-two days of floating in rafts through the Colorado Plateau, while pursuing rigorous academic study, the group will emerge having completed a large portion of John Wesley Powell’s historic descent of the Green and Colorado rivers.

Rivers have shaped American history by providing paths for exploration, travel and trade routes, sources of water for development, and recreation resources for millions. This course will examine the Green and Colorado Rivers focusing on how they contributed to the American story and how they have been transformed by time and human intervention.

The most legendary white-water adventure in American history is that of John Wesley Powell’s initial exploration and descent of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Powell and ten men left Green River, Wyoming on May 24, 1869. Downstream was an absolute mystery. The team was haunted with rumors and myths of enormous waterfalls and cliffs, un-navigable rapids, hostile natives, and even dragons. They could only anxiously wonder what the next ninety days would bring. What they found was a river corridor so magical that they were inspired to name places “Vasey’s Paradise” and “The Bright Angel”. They discovered cliffs thousands of feet high, ancient human dwellings, and a truly wild, wild, river. The hundreds of difficult rapids, which increased as the team descended, truly distinguished this trip as one of the most significant explorations in American history. When they finally reached the mouth of the Virgin River only five of the original company and Powell remained. John Wesley Powell’s adventures on the Green and Colorado River made him a national hero, and demystified the region forever.

In 1871-72, Powell returned to the Colorado River for a second expedition. This time he brought with him a highly organized team of scientist, researchers, and photographers. This expedition produced the first pictures ever of the area, and pages of scientific research documentation. Along with Powell’s journal, these pictures and research shaped the political future of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The rivers eventually became the essential element to successfully settling the west and the first in the world to be entirely human controlled. Today the rivers bring life to over 30 million people.

This three-month expeditionary rafting course will attempt to retrace John Wesley Powell’s historic journey down the Green and Colorado River across the Colorado Plateau. The route will begin at Flaming Gorge near the border of Wyoming and Utah; it then crosses the Utah / Colorado border into Colorado, re-crosses the border into Utah and finally enters Arizona to finish at either Lake Mead or Lake Powell (depending on the final choices in the itinerary). The class will explore thirteen or fourteen distinct canyons along this route including: Flaming Gorge, Red Canyon, Browns Park, the Canyon of Lodore, Whirlpool Canyon, Split Mountain Gorge, Desolation and Gray Canyon, Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyon, Cataract Canyon, Narrow Canyon, Glen Canyon, and possibly (portions of) the Grand Canyon.

Adventure Education and Environmental Studies^* are integrated in this course. Students will study aspects of each discipline as we travel through the Colorado Plateau. Students will examine the theories and framework of both by integrating their specific interests into presentations and facilitations. Topics might include Natural History and Ecology of the Colorado Plateau, Riparian Restoration, a Historical and Current Perspective of the Politics of Water in the West, Cultural History, and a History of Exploration of the Green and Colorado River including John Wesley Powell’s journey. Similar in spirit to Powell’s original journey, this class will make comparisons to modern exploration motivations, accomplishments, and risks. The class will explore how people depend on the river, and the politics of water allotment. In addition, this class will ponder and compare the rivers history with the modern circumstances that the river and its stakeholders face today.

Students will learn expeditionary rafting skills and techniques including: oar and paddle boat piloting, river terminology, raft repair and maintenance, river safety and swift water rescue, group management, outdoor leadership, Leave No Trace principles, logistical planning and other related subject matter. Understanding will be obtained through observation, discussion, research, and documentation. Students will also be involved in all course planning and logistics, decision-making, and the establishment of an effective learning community.

*This course was first taught in 1992 by Adventure Education Program Coordinator Julie Munro as her thesis at Mankato State University.