Vanessa Keating has been on a one-woman trek along the Colorado River since early August. She is currently in the final stages of her journey through the Parker region and documenting her online to raise awareness of the water crisis facing the Southwest.
Vanessa in the hoodie strip
“I fell in love with the Colorado River. I wondered if anyone had ever walked the Colorado River before,” Vanessa said. hoodie live“I’ve always been an outdoors person, but I stretched my wings when I moved to Colorado from the East Coast eight years ago. That’s when the idea started.”
Vanessa’s journey begins in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park and ends in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Total mileage 1600 miles walked in about 4 months.
“I had to learn outdoor survival on my own, and I had to train myself for hiking,” she said. Tag me, I’ve been interviewed by the Weather Channel and featured in the Salt Lake City Tribune.It’s interesting and rewarding, and we’re hearing the story of the water crisis from all sides.”
Vanessa is on Instagram and has 107,000 followers on her TikTok profile. She often posts videos and photos of her travels, as well as photos of her dog, Bryce, who accompanies her on treks.
“I was averaging 15 miles a day when I started on August 6th, and now I’m close to 20. My finish date is December 16th in Yuma. I thought it would be the hardest physically, but it’s still mental, every day is exactly the same, you break camp, you start walking, but it can be hard to keep up the momentum. It’s easy to get really lonely, like between a section and a city section.”
In a recent Instagram post, Vanessa said she was increasingly focused on the finish line as she was forced to rack up miles every day to keep the momentum going. hoodie live She has learned a lot about herself since hiking began.
“When I look back at myself when I started, it was terrifying,” she said. “It feels like it was ten years ago. I feel much more confident now.”
Vanessa thinks it’s important for the public to talk about the water crisis.
“I think having a conversation is the best way to get the ball rolling on how to change this. No. The basin provides 90% of the winter crops for the entire country, so this is not just a problem in the West, everyone in this country needs to know about this.”
And she continues her journey, meeting some people along the way, telling them what she’s up to, and posting updates.
“I’m already there, so no excuses!”
Vanessa hopes that the last 60 miles of her journey from Yuma to the Sea of Cortez will be attended by some people, and that Yuma will end up with a celebration event.
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