Disappearing Rio Grande
In 1977 a Ledyard Canoe Club expedition, sponsored by National Geographic, was the first to navigate the 1,888-mile Rio Grande from its Colorado headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. Dan Reicher ’78 joined the six-month expedition along with classmates Tony Anella ’78, who grew up on the river’s banks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, photographer Peter Lewitt ’78 and now-U.S. Sen. Rob Portman ’78. Thirty-seven years later the Disappearing Rio Grande Expedition, led by journalist Colin McDonald and joined in stretches by Reicher, retraced the strokes of these Dartmouth adventurers to chronicle the plight of a drought-plagued and politically charged river.