Rio Grande - Day 1 - Into Boquillas Canyon

Note: Left click on any photo to enlarge.

With a full day's activities ahead of us, we awoke quite early on Friday morning. Most of the group were driving off to breakfast and showers by 6:45. I wasn't invited, so I stayed in my sleeping bag for a few extra minutes of comfort. I think my reputation for timeliness had the others deciding it would be better if I skipped breakfast and started organizing and packing my gear. For once, they were right.

Based on the outfitter's reading of the Rio Grande water level and flow at the Presidio bridge, a decision had been made to switch our trip from Santa Elena Canyon to Boquillas Canyon further down the river. The water level was hovering around the maximum advisable for passage in an open canoe or kayak through Rockslide Rapid, located a short distance inside Santa Elena. And with the recent variability in the discharge from Luis Leon Reservoir on the Rio Conchos, which flows into the Rio Grande at Presidio, the flow through Santa Elena Canyon was just too unpredictable, especially since we would be working off of a measurement taken three days prior to our entrance into the canyon. So we loaded our boats and gear onto the outfitter's trailer and climbed into the van which would transport us to the put-in at Rio Grande Village, located at the opposite end of Big Bend National Park.

We actually pulled away from the outfitter's office a few minutes before the scheduled departure time of 9:00. We stopped at the park headquarters and visitor center at Panther Junction to purchase the required river permit ($10).






Mike picked up the permit and information from a ranger while the rest of us used the facilities and perused the gift shop.





We arrived at the launch site a little after 10:00 and started unloading the boats and our mountains of gear.

I guess it's time to introduce our band of merry (and sometimes grumpy) adventurers. We were eight strong ... well, maybe two or three strong and the rest not so much. Chief Mike had traveled the farthest, having driven down from Dallas to join us in San Antonio. Zoltan the Magnificent (see, I didn't even mention his Hungarian heritage, since he's tired of hearing about it) came over from Houston. Magic Fingers Cynthia brought her well-received massaging skills from Austin. The rest of us hailed from San Antonio: Usually-the-Dear-Leader Joline, Mother-to-All Susan, Real Photographer Sandra, Eddie the Otter, and Stuck-in-the-Bow Henry, your humble blogger. We were joined by Guide Yvette and Guide-in-Training Prester. All in all, a great group for a river trip.

Eddie and Susan help Sandra launch her kayak, while Mike practices his leadership skills.

The scenery was quite nice even before we reached the canyon entrance.

Sandra really piled the gear onto the Dagger Delta.





As we approached the Mexican town of Boquillas del Carmen (above), two boys practiced their salesmanship skills, but to no avail. I guess no one wanted a wire scorpion or wooden walking stick.








Eddie's Otter, the smallest boat in our band, had its stern deck barely out of the water.


We were serenaded by Victor Valdez at the entrance to the canyon. You can spot him and some other guys up on the rocks on the Mexican side of the river in the center of the photo. I didn't realize how famous Victor is until I returned home. He is featured in this All Things Considered episode on npr, which describes the effect of a ridiculous Homeland Security policy on the little town of Boquillas. The "Rio Grande Balladeer" is featured again in this second All Things Considered segment.

To hear more of Victor's voice, click on this YouTube clip and listen to his song reverberate through the canyon. And here's another clip that's perhaps even better.



Boats approach the final turn into Boquillas Canyon. Note the diagonal fault line running down the face of the mountain in the background.





















We pulled over to the Mexican side of the river for lunch close to the base of the mountain with the fault line.













Prester and Yvette started setting up for lunch.

















In the sandy bank were footprints of a raccoon and a heron.

Mike is seen giving Zoltan a lesson in geology as he points to the fault.

Looks like Susan and Cynthia already have full plates as Mike, Sandra, Joline, Zoltan and Eddie fight over the leftovers. Yvette tries to maintain order at the table as Prester scares the photographer.

The delicious lunch eaten, Zoltan and the boats are ready to get back on the river.






The scenery became even more spectacular as we headed deeper into the canyon.




A Great Blue Heron, pushed down the river by the intruders, turns and heads back upstream to reclaim its territory.

After entering the canyon, we never saw another person.

The contrast between the sunlit cliff faces and the dark shadows was striking. It also made photography difficult.







The river divides the Sierra del Carmen on the Mexican side from the Dead Horse Mountains on the U. S. side.





Two burros watched from high up on the Mexican side as we paddled past.

















Just how high up is shown in this photo. Can you spot the donkeys, or at least the white one?







Every bend in the river seemed to offer another view that demanded to be recorded.













Sandra floats by a debris pile, and Prester seems to be enjoying the trip as much as the paying customers.







Susan leads the flotilla around a bend.






Another Great Blue Heron, pushed as far down river as it was willing to go, perched on a rock and waited for us to pass before heading back up the river.







Joline shades her face from the bright sun.













Two horses on the Mexican bank.








Three donkeys responded to Mike's mating call by looking our way, but kept their distance high up on the Mexican side of the river.

Just some more impressive scenery.

Our campsite was on the U. S. bank where the park's Marufo Vega Trail descends to the river. After setting up camp, Zoltan and Mike enjoyed some cold cervezas.

Cynthia snapped a photo of me at my almost-on-the-river campsite.

Cynthia starring in On the Waterfront.





As dinner was being expertly prepared by our guides, I served the frozen margaritas which I had carried from home. The freezer bags, supplemented by the small chunk of dry ice purchased in Del Rio, had done their job. I think Yvette was surprised by the opportunity to enjoy a frozen margarita, with salt, on the river. And we were all impressed with the dinner, which featured filet mignon grilled to perfection by Prester and wonderful mashed potatoes. Cheesecake for dessert topped off the meal.

After paddling 14 miles that day in a loaded boat that sometimes seemed to have a mind of its own, I was ready to relax and rest my sore muscles. Shoulder massages by Cynthia and Susan were welcomed by all, much more so than the jokes Mike and I told. With sunset at 6:00, most of us were in our sleeping bags by 8:00. With my tent set up at a lower level and closer to the river than the others, I was largely shielded from the snorers' symphony, and quickly fell asleep.

Shortly after midnight, I was awakened by a loud, strange noise very close to our camp. It was the braying of an angry donkey! The burro was apparently following its normal route down to the river when it came around a bend to find Mike asleep in the middle of the path. After loudly complaining for about fifteen seconds, the donkey realized that it had met its match and retreated back the way it had come. Perhaps it had heard about the unusual mating call earlier in the day from its cousins on the Mexican side.

After this brief interruption, I quickly went back to sleep. I did hear another round of braying later, but it seemed to be from further away. I never heard the javelinas which passed within a few feet of my tent, as evidenced by the fresh hoofprints found in the morning. Pawprints showed that our camp had also been visited by coyotes and a good-sized cat, probably a bobcat. It was obvious that we were the visitors in this place.

Note: To view an additional 56 photos of our first day on the river, click this link to my Flickr page, then click on "Slideshow."