I was one of a group of twelve Austin paddlers who had a permit to paddle the Chama River on Memorial Day Weekend. The Chama is a Wild and Scenic River in northern New Mexico.
The group met on Friday night (5/23) and Saturday morning (5/24) at El Vado campground. After several persons orchestrated the 2.5 hour shuttle, we put in around 12:30 on Saturday afternoon. Luckily for us, the Bureau of Land Management folks had decided to increase the dam release from El Vado Lake from 100 cfs to 535 cfs on Friday evening.
From what I've seen and heard, rafts are the main mode of transportation on the Chama. We were a little different. The group consisted of (in order of boat size):
John and Leigh Caldwell and Carla
Jennings in a 14-foot (?) Sotar oar raft
Bill Whitaker and Skipper Lay in a Mad
River tandem tripping canoe
Dirk Early in a Dagger Rival (solo
whitewater canoe)
Glenn Hart in a Dagger Rival
Mark White in a long ww kayak (Hurricaine)
Jennifer Joy (Mark's wife) in a long ww kayak (Pirouette)
Melinda Everett in a smaller ww
kayak (RPM Max)
Tracy Harton in an even smaller
ww kayak (Pyranha H2Zone)
Alan (Leigh's son) in a really small
ww kayak (Dagger Id)
Carla was in the raft instead of her kayak because she recently injured her shoulder. She was frustrated she couldn't paddle her kayak, but she said she enjoyed the raft a lot.
We talked to the Bureau of Land Management ranger, a fifty-something year old woman who paddled a loaded Dagger Rival. She said that she was glad to see all out "little boats". I remarked that she had a really good job, paddling through the canyon and getting paid for it, and she agreed.
As we pushed off, we immediately were impressed with the beauty of the Chama, which became even more beautiful as the trees increased around mile 4 and we entered the canyon. The flow of 535 is a good low to moderate level. There was a constant flow with no slow water. The first day had several minor rapids, with the main attraction being the scenery. At about mile 6, we passed a group of about four rafts and a rubber ducky who were mostly from Durango. We had heard that they were hoping to camp at Aragon Campground (mile 10), which was also the one where we wanted to spend the night. There are many beautiful campgrounds on the Chama trip, but Aragon is probably the best because the surroundings are spectacular, it's right by a nice Class II rapid, and it has a good side hike up the canyon from the site. Campgrounds are on a first-come, first-served basis. So, having a faster-moving group of mostly canoes and kayaks, we were able to win the "Race to Aragon". Let's just say we didn't make any unnecessary stops.
We got out at Christmas Tree Rock (it grows directly out of a midstream boulder, signaling the campsite) and set up camp around five that afternoon. It was early to bed and early to rise, and the next morning we all had a nice two-thirds mile hike up the dry, boulder-strewn wash that ends at a box canyon with a high cliff pourover. When we got near the river, Bill Whitaker walked within a foot or so of small rattle snake, which greeting him with a warning rattle. "Excuse me, Mr. Snake, sir, let me get out of your way!" This was the first time I'd heard that sound in the wild, and it was impressive.
We had a short day planned on the river on Sunday, so we started out around 10:30. We had fun on Aragon Rapid, a fast Class II along a cliff with some nice standing waves. This is the first rapid of any consequence on the trip. We had a good day paddling through small rapids in some great mountain scenery. The forest on the middle section (about miles 8 through 16) is the best of the trip, consisting of several different types of pines. There are numerous high colorful sandstone cliffs right next to the river. We decided to camp after only about six miles that day because we wanted to camp in the canyon again, rather than in the high desert country into which the river descends at about mile 18. We thought about camping at the big campground opposite Big Rock, but the other group was there. This turned out fine, because we liked the next campsite very much, which was on the right bank just above an island, and also just above where Huckaby Canyon comes in from the left. After setting up camp, several of us hiked up a fairly steep tree-covered area with no trail that ascends over halfway up the adjacent cliffs. We had a beautiful view of the river and canyon looking upstream.
That evening, there was a small rain shower that caused us to look for shelter around dinner time. Dirk, Tracy, and I went over to where Bill Whitaker and Skipper Lay had set up a tarp with poles. These two had really come prepared -- they had the tarp, lightweight camp chairs, and the whole bit. Skipper was cooking what looked like a seven course meal. This was impressive. They started out with a tomato basil soup, followed by zucchini lasagna, and then creamy mashed potatoes. I left after this course, but I did hear them discussing whether they would continue with apple cobbler or the like. Evening refreshments consisted of red wine and tequila shots, light-weight river fare carried by Mark and myself, respectively.
Each day we saw a number of Canadian geese on the river and banks. With black and white markings, they are really handsome specimen. Sometimes we'd see pairs, sometimes small groups. Often they would have two or three fuzzy brown toddlers. Three seemed to be the usual number of offspring. Some of the geese were somewhat unafraid, paddling down the ripples just ahead of our boats. Some didn't like us to get close, such as the pair which flew in separate directions when they saw one of our group standing on the bank hoping to take their photo. Maybe these geese were camera shy?
At one point, we saw an eagle on the bank. I was leading the group, and I startled him, making him drop a fish on the bank. Others behind me told me that they saw him go back for the fish!
The last day of the three day trip showed marked contrasts. We paddled out of the canyon into rolling sandstone hills and cliffs. The trees changed from pines to sycamores, ash, and other lowland varieties. It was still beautiful, but in a different way. Surprisingly, the best rapids are on the last third of the trip. You'd expect it would be just the opposite -- that the major rapids would be in the river canyon. But the lower section somehow has more gradient, and there are several exciting although not extremely difficult rapids. There are several named rapids, a couple of which are fairly long (about one-third mile). The rapids in this section are not major drops, but rather long boulder gardens of moderate difficulty requiring several moves through fairly obvious lines. The last major rapid, Gauging Station, is probably a Class III-, with several large rocks that form crosscurrents and pourovers. I had paddled the Chama two years earlier at 1,100 cfs, and I thought that the flow at 535 cfs was more fun because there were more rocks to avoid, and they formed more eddies.
We were a fairly self-contained group, especially considering we had only one raft. The kayakers somehow were able to pack most of their own gear, with the help of John and Leigh, who were considerate enough to carry some extra gear even though their raft is of the smaller sporty variety. Bill and Skipper carried one heck of a load in their Mad River tandem, making us wonder how they had any freeboard left. The standard joke was if you needed something, "Bill probably has it". Actually, all the canoeists, including Dirk and myself, felt that having our gear stowed low and near the center actually helped the canoes to feel more stable. Interesting, but true! And Bill and Skipper amazed us with their canoeing skill, making good lines and turns with a full load.
We had a great trip. It was a great group -- everyone was really nice, and we all got along great. The weather and scenery were wonderful, and the Chama was a marvelous experience. It was the ultimate river camping trip.
Glenn Hart