Babes in boats, botanizing the big bad Colorado River. But seriously, a great read. Written as if you’re there, following the weird routines that come along with a trip like that, with field work like that. But also WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD THEIR NAMES BEFORE. Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter are, rightfully so, legends and role models and certified badasses. I have been to the Colorado, I have done field work on the Colorado, and I have swam in it at lunch time in lieu of a laundromat or a shower, and yet my love of plants blossomed later in life and I did not have the privilege of carrying along a guidebook shaped by their discoveries. I also appreciated the author’s acknowledgement of the people who stewarded the land and shaped it’s ecology long before white people ran the river. Even Elzada and Lois acknowledged that they were the first *white* women to run the river (in the 30’s!).

This combined several of my favorite things to think and read about: ecology, botany, conservation, women doing cool shit, boats, the West. I will leave you with a quote, one that made me emotional and as books centering on conservation typically do, made my think about my “why” and my place on this rock. “What does ‘wild’ mean, anyway? Not untouched by human presence, even the plants – especially the plants – show how the canyonland’s first inhabitants tended agave and prickly pear, coaxing them into new shapes. A wild place isn’t one unchanged by humans. It’s a place that changes us.”

AB (the B stands for Book)