ALONG THE WAY

This Ritual Involves Running the Colorado Backward and Picking It Clean on the Way

Smokey Knowlton slid the bow of the 26-foot-long Explorer onto the goldcolored sand. “This is my kind of beach,” he said. A bunch of other boats followed Smokey’s maneuver and legions leaped ashore.This beach attack took place on the lower Colorado River about five miles upstream from our point of embarkation: Fisher’s Landing, at Martinez Lake, which in turn is about 40 road miles north of Yuma. We were taking part in the ninth annual Reverse River Run. The “runners” were there to rid the beaches of broken glass, foam cups, plastic bottles, cigarette butts, beer and pop cans once even a refrigerator along the 70 miles between Fisher’s Landing, Arizona, and the Interstate 10 crossing at Blythe, California.

But there was nothing on this beach, not a scrap of litter. Smokey said, “That’s why it’s my kind of beach.” The Reverse River Run was born of the conscientious minds of Irene and Lee Hindman and Smokey and his wife, Sheila. Ten years ago, Lee bought a boat and wanted to make the run to Blythe. The Knowltons went along. “The following year, we decided to do it again” said Irene, “and Smokey said the trip should have a theme.”Since 1954 the Blythe Chamber of Commerce has been organizing water-loving people for annual fun runs downstream. Though cleaning beaches was not on their itinerary, no doubt some of it was done. Smokey and other Martinez Lake residents had been driving and boating up to Blythe to join the event, and they had been cleaning beaches of litter for decades. A new tradition was born.

The temperature that early October day hit near 100° F.

with matching humidity. Other than avoiding skin cancer and concealing bleached, flabby bodies, there certainly wasn’t any reason for our litter-pickers to cover up. Only two people were fully dressed. I was one of them. The men and boys mostly wore baggy surfers. The “older” ladies wore shorts. The young Arizona ladies wore bikinis, and those from California, true to California’s drive for the unique, wore dental floss. Nearly everyone was shod with Tevas, sandals consisting of nothing more than soles and a couple of Velcro straps to keep them on while falling or jumping overboard, exactly like Smokey wears. Tilley hats topped many of them, with button-up brim and chin straps exactly like Smokey’s.

According to Smokey, there were about 110 people on this run, and 10 to 20 boats; according to John Culley, a participant, there were 135 people and 34 boats: according to Irene and Lee, who are serious counters, the total was 97 people and 17 boats.

Shortly before sunset, we arrived at Rivera Campground. The trash we’d collected filled two king-size dumpsters to overflowing. Prizes like binoculars, Yuma River tours, cash, gift certificates, a ski vest, vehicle detailing, oil changes, and dinners were awarded for the most trash collected, the biggest piece of trash, the smallest, the oddest. . . . “We just wing it,” said Irene, “giving prizes for whatever category we can think up. Prizes are donated by companies and organizations like Suburban Sanitation, the Bureau of Land Management, Chevrolet in Yuma, Fisher’s, Donnie and Swede’s Boat Shop, Martinez Lake Resort and Store, Westside Construction, Yuma River Tours, and many others. Sometimes we have so many prizes, we can’t find justifiable reasons for giving them and usually save them for next year.” I slept on Smokey’s Explorer that night, lulled to sleep by 18wheelers gearing down for the Blythe off-ramp. The return to Fisher’s Landing on day two was expected to take no more than three hours, but Smokey’s good-guy penchant had us making frequent rescues: starting boats with dead batteries, towing those with broken engine parts, pulling them off sand bars. In late afternoon about five miles from Fisher’s, loaded with rescuees, the Explorer coughed painfully and died. We were out of gas. It was our turn to be rescued. Smokey reached for his cell phone. It was quiet and peaceful, the river moving just three miles an hour. Late afternoon. The best time of the day. Eva Brooks, one of the rescuees, surprised me with a tall frosty Guinness. As we drifted by the ultra-clean first beach, I was tempted to toss the empty can onto it. I am avidly anti-litter, but I wanted to make some Reverse River Runner’s day.

Author’s Note: This year’s Reverse River Run will take place October 3-4. Participants must provide their own boats; the only charge is a nominal campground fee. To inquire, contact Yuma River Tours, 1920 Arizona Ave., Yuma, AZ 85364; (520) 783-4400, or Lori Cook, Bureau of Land Management, 2555 E. Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, AZ 85365; (520) 317-3243.

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