Kayaking 417 Miles Down America's Most Endangered River

CNN Journalist John D. Sutter spent three weeks trying to kayak (and walk) down the "most endangered" river in America, California's San Joaquin.

“'Most people are on the world, not in it,' wrote John Muir, the famous naturalist who traveled the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada and whose journals I would carry with me down the San Joaquin.

I think this notion of being disconnected from the natural world is especially pronounced when it comes to rivers.

We see them when we zip by on highways, maybe. Or when we fly over them. But we don’t spend time with them -- don’t know where they start or where they go. We sure don’t Huck-Finn them these days.

I’m as guilty of this modern river blindness as anyone.

But I wanted to change. I wanted to get 'in' this river.

I just didn’t realize quite what that would mean..."

Photo credit John D. Sutter 

Click over to read Sutter's entire account of his journey on cnn.com.

Photo credit John D. Sutter