We stumbled upon him after rounding a corner below Mantle Ranch during a high-water float trip down Colorado’s Yampa Canyon. We spent the next three hours trying to herd his cattle back across the river, using our kayaks as our caballos. The Yampa is the last remaining free-flowing tributary to the Colorado River that still retains its natural hydrograph. You become especially attuned to it on longer trips, like floating the seventy-one-mile Yampa Canyon run through Dinosaur National Monument, the one stranding our cowboy. Like our hitchhiking cowboy, the Yampa has seen its share of jams over the years—log, cattle, political, and more.

Source: Daily Sun February 15, 2026 09:32 UTC