photos by David Halterman

Now that river levels have dropped, monsoon season is over, and tuber sightings are as rare as ants teeth, the banks of the Animas River have been calling for a bit of attention. Well, they got it last Saturday morning as local volunteers came out to cash in on a little river karma while tidying up the shoreline. Organized by Ty Churchwell of Trout Unlimited, the river maids were given gloves, trash bags, water, and as many Cliff Bars as they could stuff into their pockets and sent out to clean a predetermined 1/4 mile stretch of river, between 32nd Street and Santa Rita Park. Whether it was beer cans, whiskey bottles, underwear or shopping carts, the crews dragged and bagged an assortment of river garbage, while the city did its part by collecting and disposing of the mess from collection points along the river trail. Keeping Durangos lifeblood unspoiled is everyones responsibility, so thanks to those who came out on Saturday to do their part.

Proud indeed. A discarded T-shirt says it all on top of a mound of garbage found along the banks of the Animas River behind North City Market on Saturday morning. Ty Churchwell, with Trout Unlimited, instructs volunteers on safe and proper practices while cleaning along the river banks. Paul Reeves decides not to wait for the city pick up and loads his findings into the back of his VW Thing on Saturday. Bill Borgers, right, and Terry Senter make their first big find of the day, a traffic cone, just above Smelter Rapid. A volunteer known simply as Doug tosses a few of the many empty bottles of beer he collected along the river into the recycling bin behind North City Market. Armed only with gloves and trash bags, a volunteer surveys the area below Corner Pocket for trash on Saturday morning. Surprisingly, many of the high-use sections of the river were relatively clean, according to volunteers.