Hi, I'm Willow Belden, and you're listening to Out There, the podcast that explores big questions through intimate stories in the outdoors.

We don't usually release episodes on Saturdays, but because it's Earth Day, we're doing a special bonus episode.

Today's story comes to us from a professor at Pace University named Bryce Particelli.

It's a story about a trip he took on the Bronx River, which runs through New York City.

The trip itself was an adventure.

But even more interesting are the socio-environmental stories it dredged up.

By paddling a river that people don't paddle, Bryce got an inside

look at places that are largely forgotten, places where cities and nature meet, places where social and

economic divides bleed over into the natural world. His story follows his own trials and

tribulations, trying to access nature in a place where nature is not meant to be accessed.

But it's also a portrait of a waterway, an intimate look at a river that's come to mirror the places it runs through,

and a reminder of just how much our surroundings can show us about ourselves.

I'll let Bryce take it from here.

We splurged on the raft. While the picture on the box clearly showed two children paddling a

placid lake, it also boasted a motor mount fitting for an engine.

It was comforting to know that this raft at least pretended to be built for rougher stuff.

My paddle buddy, Kwong, paused in front of the cheaper one.

Are you sure this one won't do, he asked?

It had one air compartment and looked even more like a toy.

It's only $32.

We should have known then that we were in trouble.

Neither of us know much about paddling a river.

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