Eagle River Coalition hosts Spanish-speaking Community Float Day

Aspen —The Eagle River moves through Eagle County with a steady, muddy urgency, carrying the weight of snowmelt and summer drought in equal measure. On August 1, that current became a gathering place for Claudio Gonzalez, originally from Chile, who stood on the riverbank watching rafts bob in the water. For Gonzalez, a program manager for a Leadville outdoor group, finding familiar rhythms in the Colorado Rockies has often been elusive. Yet, as he prepared to join his Chilean neighbors on the water, the distance between home and here felt a little shorter.

He was there for Community Float Day, an event hosted by the Eagle River Coalition alongside Exploremos, a coalition of nonprofits dedicated to lowering barriers to the outdoors. The goal was simple but profound: give the Spanish-speaking community a chance to ride the waves of the Eagle, learn about river ecology, and connect with one another.

Exploremos offers a variety of activities — hiking, biking, horseback riding, and rafting — but they distinguish themselves by providing Spanish-speaking guides and borrowable gear. This approach ensures that accessibility isn’t just about having the equipment, but about having someone who speaks your language to explain how to use it. By providing both rafts and guides, Community Float Day allowed locals to engage with the 60-mile tributary of the Colorado River, a waterway they cross paths with daily yet often know little about.

Almost 100 people signed up for the event, splitting into morning and afternoon groups for their journey downriver. Between rides, attendees gathered at Eagle River Park for lunch and an educational presentation on pollution sources. Mirtin Garcia, a representative from Exploremos, noted that this was one of the biggest events they had hosted so far.

Cassi Kelchner, a trip leader and head guide for Timberline Tours, which provided the rafts along with five guides, some of whom were Spanish-speaking - observed a unique dynamic among the participants. “For a lot of people, it’s their first time rafting and they’ve lived next to the river for a long time, but it is the first time that they’ve ever actually gotten to go out in that capacity,” Kelchner said.

What set this group apart from typical tourist rafting trips was the fact that many participants live in the area full-time and have noticed the river changing. They asked questions that visitors might not think to ask, such as concerns regarding the lack of snowmelt in the region.

The midday presentation, delivered in Spanish by a representative of the Eagle River Coalition, focused on nonpoint pollution. Attendees learned how agricultural runoff, oil and grease effluent, pesticides, and other contaminants flow into the water from various sources rather than a single point of discharge.

“It was especially important this year because of the drought that we’re facing and the low levels of water we’re having,” said event participant Ramona Macias, who was attending for the third year.

Macias appreciated the opportunity to learn about contaminants in the water, noting that while she was aware of pollution generally, the specific details were new to her. It is a quiet education that happens on the water, where the responsibility of stewardship feels less like a civic duty and more like a neighborly care for what is right outside the door.

As the afternoon light hit the water, turning the surface into a sheet of shimmering gold and gray, the rafts drifted slowly toward the bend in the river. The sound of oars dipping into the current mixed with Spanish conversation, a reminder that this landscape belongs to everyone who calls it home.