On
Monday, May 21st, each individual had to decide whether to return to
Tucson or continue boating in Southwestern Colorado after getting forced off the
Dolores River by low flows and bad weather. Of the original eight club boaters,
I was the only one opting to continue so I headed for Durango. What ensued
comprises some of the best boating I’ve ever experienced.
I
arrived at the River Park in Durango around 2:00 pm to find Smelter Rapid
creating an eight-foot wave and huge holes on both sides of the river for 100
yards. The flow was 3000+. I headed to the put-in on 32nd St. and
hooked up with a commercial trip that was floating to the Wal-Mart take-out six
miles south. That section gives you several Class II-III rapids on a winding
course thru town and under bridges. Smelter Rapid was huge but I entered well
and the wave was flushing at its peak. I managed to avoid two huge reversals on
the right side while navigating some big waves.
Tuesday
was cold and rainy so I holed up in a hotel, The Durango Lodge on 5th
St., that I would recommend for value and location. On Wednesday, the weather
broke and conditions became favorable for boating. The flow was 1950 and Smelter
was noticeably smaller. But, after pushing thru Smelter, my cat was ensnared by
a huge hole on river left that was successfully countered with some high sides,
oar strokes and praying. The rest of the six-mile trip was a simple row with
many holes to practice surfing.
On
Thursday, May 24, I headed to Pagosa Springs to boat the San Juan and Piedra
Rivers. I had hoped to float the Upper San Juan from the forks down to town but,
after talking with the local rafting shop, I decided not to run it because of
three suspected strainers and log jams. I still do not have conclusive evidence
whether it is true or not. On Friday, I put in on the San Juan just behind the
malt shop off US 160 at the bridge. There is an inexpensive campsite on the
south side of the road just a hundred yards downstream from the put-in.
Additionally, Kips Bar and Grill provides food and entertainment just a few
hundred feet away. The San Juan’s Mesa Canyon run starts around Pagosa Springs
(several put-ins) and takes you generally south 15 miles with good road access.
It’s a beautiful forested canyon with some rock cliffs and class II-III rapids.
The big event of the day was the rescue of an elk calf. I floated with two guys,
Wayne and George, who rigged at the put-in at the same time I did. Their wives
weren’t going on the river that day and were going to drive the trailer to the
take-out. So, floating down the river with them, we see a small animal (deer?)
huddled up on a ledge at the bottom of a cliff a couple of feet above the water
line. Wayne had George steer the raft toward the right bank and jumped off onto
this small ledge and attended the calf. It took three tries to recirculate the
raft back in position so Wayne could jump back on the raft while carrying the
calf. Finally, we had the raft to shore and Wayne cradled the calf. I held the
feet and legs together while George tied the calf’s feet securely to safely
continue floating down river. Over the last five or so miles we talked about
what to do and decided to take the calf out of the gorge and find assistance.
After a couple of calls to vets and wildlife management, we took the elk calf to
the Wild Animal Park just south of Pagosa Springs on U.S. 84. Apparently, it
will stay there until transfer to an elk rehabilitation facility in Ft. Collins.
Wayne, who did most of the work, was very proud and fond of his one- week old
elk calf.
On
Saturday morning a group met at the old store where U.S. 160 crosses the Piedra
River. The Piedra is a class III-IV run with two main sections, the first and
second boxes. The second box is less chaotic and has two class IV rapids; Lone
Pine and Limestone. The first box has several big and significant IV’s plus “Eye
of the Needle” that is often portaged. I ran the second box or the wilderness
run. It is a beautiful alpine float starting in very narrow canyon with cliff
and tree overhangs. It was initially technical in nature due to route finding.
The river was flowing about 400 cfs at the put-in. The river quickly widened as
three large tributaries join in the first five miles and the flow doubled. We
encountered one river wide logjam that was easily portaged on the right. Lone
Pine necessitated a far right entry and move back to the middle whereas
Limestone required a middle entry toward the large rock with profile to move
left and then back to center. One
of the river’s highlights is the scenic, snow-capped alpine view of 12-13,000
foot peaks and the densely foliated aspen-fir canyon.
On
Sunday, I transitioned to Taos, New Mexico to run the Rio Grande Gorge, aka The
Box. I made shuttle arrangements in Pilar and gathered information for the
Memorial Day run thru the gorge.
At
the put-in, I met a wonderful lady named Lorrie who was guiding her raft along
with her husband and another couple. She invited me to join them downriver and
they planned to scout Powerline, DeadCar and Sunset rapids. The gorge is
absolutely stunning and we saw eagles, hawks, and bighorn sheep. The most
exciting ride of the day involved my cat running Powerline backwards with me
scrambling on my cargo floor trying to regain some control. At one point, my
stern (now bow) goes straight up and I’m buried in the water. Moments later it
was all good. The 17-mile run ends with lively Sunset Rapid, scoutable from the
take-out at Taos Junction Bridge. The day ended with a great dinner at
Gabriella’s just north of Sante Fe. The wonderful folks I met even paid for my
meal. They will be forwarding some pictures of my Powerline
run.
After
dinner I drove to Albuquerque, grabbed a hotel room, showered and reflected on
the wonderful journey of 83 miles on five rivers (Dolores, Animas, San Juan,
Piedra, Rio Grande) in eleven days. It was an awesome adventure and I am so glad
that I decided to stay and take advantage of southwestern Colorado.