A young passenger paddles during a canoe trip on the Gunnison River between Delta and Grand Junction.Chryss Cada, Special to The Denver Post GRAND JUNCTION — In western Colorado, where red earth pushes up into great, flat mesas and splits down into rugged canyon walls, signs of life take some looking for. The deepest green in these vast open spaces is the dusty, faded hue of the tenacious juniper tree or the grayish leaves of pungent sagebrush.