Disclaimer: This document is for entertainment only and is not intended to instruct or educate anyone about anything. If you choose to emulate the stupid things I do you are on your own, and I take no responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

Trip Report: I had a three day weeked over the New Year's Holiday so I decided to take a paddle down the initial portion of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River that runs through Big Bend Ranch State Park.

First there were kittens!

I drove out to Terlingua, Texas on 12/30/05 and arrived at the outfitter's around midnight. As I prepared to bed down for the night in their parking lot two little furry creatures ambushed me from the bushes. Fortunately they were not coyotes but the outfitter's resident cats. The next day I was told that they were both a year old, which is pretty impressive considering the number of coyotes that roam those parts.

Early the next morning it was time to don the Lawrence of Arabia gittup and get on the water.

The outfitter dropped me off at the Colorado Canyon put in and I spent about an hour packing everything up in dry bags and lashing them to my boat.

The first rapid I encountered was Closed Canyon Rapid which was basically one fun little drop in a narrow channel.

While scouting Closed Canyon Rapid I wandered up Closed Canyon a little ways. It's a nice spot with beautiful rock walls. It was also chilly so I decided to keep paddling.

A little further down the river I spotted this little horse that seems to wander back and forth between the Mexican and Texan sides of the river.

After seeing the horse the back end of my boat got pushed up against this rock.

Since the back of the boat was top heavy with my 5 gallon bladder of water my encounter with this rock caused the whole boat to capsize, which was more embarrassing than dangerous. Fortunately everything stayed lashed in place and the only thing I lost was a half empty water bottle which I recovered a short distance later. After this event I decided to unlash the 5 gallon bladder from the boat so that it wouldn't be as likely to capsize me again.

The next notable rapid was Panther Rapid.

Panther Rapid is generally considered more technical in the low water conditions that I encountered than it is in high water. The reason for this is that it settles into two swift, narrow channels, one on the far left and the other on the far right. Turning between these two channels wasn't very difficult, but immediately below the second channel there is a big rock which is hard to miss. After exiting the second channel I paddled furiously on the right but still managed to smack the nose of my boat into the rock. Fortunately all this did was spin me around after which I was able to correct my direction and paddle merrily on my way.

A couple of miles downriver I found a nice untrammeled grassy spot on the Texas banks of the river and decided to call it home for the night. Here I am enjoying the warmth of the last setting sun of 2005.

Shortly after dark I heard a thumping sound near my sleeping bag and looked up to see a javalina sniffing around my campsite. He was probably attracted by the scent of ham chowder and rye bread that emanated from my eating utensils. Javalina have been known to be pretty ornery if confronted so I just made some rustling noises to let him know I was there and he decided to continue on his way.

Happy New Year 2006! Here are some sunrise shots from my campsite on New Year's Day.

And here is the boat all packed up and ready to go for day two.

Shortly after launching on day two I encountered a hazard that shows up at an unnamed spot in low water conditions. the current narrows down and runs against the left bank before running under a downed tree. The reeds on my left made it impossible to get my paddle in the water to steer to the right so my boat got pinned against the downed tree. It was at this point that I realized how strong the current in this channel was as it began to push my boat under the downed tree. After a few seconds I was capsized for a second time on this trip. Bummer. Once again it isn't so bad if you keep your priorities straight: Life and Limb before Gear and Goodies. In the next picture you can see a group of Girl Scouts on an Outward Bound trip who were sensible enough to portage the section that capsized me.

Fortunately the sun was shining and I was able to dry out pretty quickly. The next interesting spot was this ranch house on the Mexican Side that sits on a rocky bluff above the river.

The final major rapid of this trip was Fresno Rapid, which involves side slipping into a tight left turn before dodging a succession of large underwater rocks.

Here are the leaders of the Outward Bound trip expertly negotiating the initial turn in a loaded down canoe.

Having successfully negotiated the last major rapid of the trip I stopped for lunch at an exceptionally tacky cowboy movie set located inside of Big Bend Ranch State Park.

For the remainder of the day I was treated to blue skies, beautiful sights and a cool, strong tail wind to drive me down the river.

I made it to the take out around 2 p.m. and packed up all the gear. This gave me enough time to enjoy the sunset at the Hot Springs in Big Bend National Park

Then it was off to an early bed time in preparation for a dawn hike of The Lost Mine Trail in Big Bend National Park.