An 11 day trip down the Escalante River in 1995 changed my life. It was a foray into wild, unadulterated wilderness that forced everyone of us to adapt and evolve, like it or not. I will never forget it. We “need” wild places like we need food, water and shelter. It’s part of our DNA. We seem to have forgotten this fact, these days. Wild places keep us real. Rivers are our lifelines to the landscape that surrounds us. If we don’t have clean water: we die.