August 14, 2023
Summer’s swan song is approaching faster than any of us would like, but that doesn’t mean that we must close the books on outdoor adventures. In fact, the next month or two are some of our favorite times to get out on the water, when the weather is not too…
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June 27, 2023
That title is accurate. We are all in between swims. It’s only a matter of time before we misjudge while reading a river, we lose our balance while leaning the wrong direction or maybe we cross an eddyline and are not ready for the current and next thing you know,…
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May 26, 2023
Water is — and always has been — a source of vitality. In Iowa, our local rivers, streams, and creeks provide the water that eventually flows from the tap in our homes. Like any other natural resource, water deserves to be protected and stewarded, and it’s up to us to…
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April 22, 2022
Over the last few years, I have had the honor of participating as staff for Iowa Project AWARE. I sift through all of the trash that volunteers find in the river — glass, plastic, metal, tires and the odd assortment of unusual items. I also have the pleasure of…
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June 22, 2021
Iowa Project AWARE is bringing families, friends and a cavalcade of educational programming to the lower and middle Raccoon River watershed July 11-16 with the return of this annual event. After a pause in 2020, N-Compass Inc. is busy preparing for hundreds of volunteers to gather in local parks…
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April 27, 2021
As I rowed down the river, I stopped to watch a deer run along the shore. There was something majestic about it, not that I had never seen a deer before, but that I’d never viewed one from this perspective. This was my first time sculling on the river with…
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February 16, 2021
I have been canoeing and kayaking since high school and have lived in the Des Moines area since the summer of 1994 but had never had an opportunity to be on the Des Moines River until 2016 when I became a member of Des Moines Rowing (DMR). I learned…
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November 17, 2020
I was riding my bike south on the Neal Smith Trail to the Downtown Farmer’s Market when I looked over at the river and saw a single sculler rowing upstream. I want to do that, I thought. So, I contacted Des Moines Rowing and they taught me how to…
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November 9, 2020
I remember the first time I visited the High Trestle Trail Bridge. I went to see the artistic, spiraling steel cribs but left even more inspired by the Des Moines River valley below. Before the blue lights lit up the bridge that night, I was illuminated by a snaking river…
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October 26, 2020
I have a confession to make. I am not from Iowa. Even after 21 years in this state, it is hard to give up my identity as a Minnesotan. And despite all of the Iowa Nice, I don’t always feel like I belong here. People here have deep roots. I…
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