Amazon 7 #26 April 7, 2006 QuoteI want to do a kayak trip in Colorado this summer very badly. So by doing it badly are you planning on riding upside down thru the rapids???? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swedishcelt 0 #27 April 8, 2006 QuoteQuoteI want to do a kayak trip in Colorado this summer very badly. So by doing it badly are you planning on riding upside down thru the rapids????OUCH!!!! Amazon busted me for a misplaced modifier. I just caught that!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #28 April 10, 2006 These are probably my best two photos from the entire trip. It is the second morning on the river, hitting the water shortly after sunrise, after eating breakfast, breaking camp and packing the boats in near-darkness. The shadows from the cliffs are still deep black inside the canyon, there is a light fog in the air, sunlight shining through the opening up ahead, huge cliffs on both sides... Everyone stopped paddling and just drifted, silent, awestruck by the scene. Wow! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #29 April 10, 2006 Photo #1: Along the river, we would stop at side canyons now and then in order to explore. Here you see Natalie coming down through a narrow slot that led to a huge canyon going uphill to the mesa on top. We didn't have the time to go all the way up, but we explored a half-mile or so. These canyons are very remote, accessible to very few people. And many of them were on the Mexican side of the river. Technically, it's legal for a U.S. citizen to go up to 15 miles into Mexico without a passport. But to return to the U.S. you must come through an official port of entry. And the closest one to our canoe trip was at least 50 miles away to the west, and 100 miles to the east. So if a border patrol agent had seen us coming out of a Mexican canyon and then touching the U.S. side of the river, he could have arrested us. Ack! Therefore, you officially don't know anything about me touching Mexican soil on this trip. Got it? Photo #2: I took this photo after climbing to the top of a slick-rock pour-off in a narrow slot canyon. Natalie and Frazer are contemplating whether they want to try and climb that wall themselves and follow me up there. It wasn't that difficult! I was wearing water sport booties made of rubber with a grip-texture sole, and they were terrific for getting a good grip during rock.climbing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancesWClouds 0 #30 April 10, 2006 Dear Lord. Those pics are beautiful! ~ Dances Muff Brother #2169 "You can take the girl out of the sky, but not the sky out of the girl!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenz 0 #31 April 10, 2006 that looks absolutely amazing! glad you had such a great time! i'll be living in texas in about a year so i'll keep this stuff bookmarked - cause that is something i would love to do - thanks for sharing!"life does throw curveballs sometimes but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still swing for the homerun" ~ me Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
micro 0 #32 April 10, 2006 QuoteThese are probably my best two photos from the entire trip. It is the second morning on the river, hitting the water shortly after sunrise, after eating breakfast, breaking camp and packing the boats in near-darkness. The shadows from the cliffs are still deep black inside the canyon, there is a light fog in the air, sunlight shining through the opening up ahead, huge cliffs on both sides... Everyone stopped paddling and just drifted, silent, awestruck by the scene. Wow! Just one word... acronym rather... BASE!!! I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #33 April 10, 2006 QuoteJust one word... acronym rather... BASE!!! I thought about that while down in there. Those cliffs are jumpable. But it's a day or two of hiking to get to the top edge. Then you've got to have canoes waiting to paddle another couple of days to get out. It would be one heck of a lot of work for a cliff jump. There are certainly easier locations available. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #34 April 10, 2006 Photo #1: Time to introduce an old photo from my files. This little desert plant is called "candelilla", which in Spanish means "little candles". It grows only in the American southwest and in northern Mexico. It is harvested and boiled in vats of water to produce a waxy substance that is skimmed off and sold. It takes 50 lbs. of candelilla to make one pound of wax. Candelilla wax is used in many products including cosmetics and foods. In this picture, I'm showing my chapstick, which uses candelilla wax. Chiclets chewing gum also uses it. This is a lead-in to my next few photos... Photo #2: At several places along the river we saw evidence of "candelilla camps", such as in this photo. This is where Mexicans harvest and process the candelilla plants, to produce drums of the wax for sale. In this photo, you can see where we have pulled our canoes off the river onto a sandbar, to explore the large iron tub, which we saw. This is a vat in which they boiled the plant, filled with water from the river. Nearby, was a large pile of previously processed, dried-out candelilla, which is re-used as a source of fire for boiling the next batch at a later date. This is good recycling and making the most of everything - they have to, because there sure isn't much wood around. What I can't figure out is how they got these huge iron vats, weighing hundreds of pounds, out here in the middle of nowhere. They must have dragged it out there with a team of burros. All of this work is brutally hard labor. So enjoy your chapstick, you Yankee pigs! Photo #3: Going up a side canyon from the boiling tub, revealed this sight (photo attached). This is a camp for the Mexicans who make the wax. It's a small raised ledge at the base of a cliff, and they have built a crude shelf there, stacked with their tools and cooking utensils. There is also a board laid across rocks to sit upon, and a grill laid across rocks for cooking. You can see where the cliff is blackened from the fire soot. These Mexicans work in small groups, and use burros to haul the plant to the boiling vat. Sometimes they don't pay much attention to the national border, and cross over into the national park to harvest the plant. When the rangers catch them, they confiscate their burros. It takes from 5 to 50 years for the candelilla to re-grow, depending upon conditions. Vast areas have been denuded of the plant. Everything you could ever want to know about candelilla is here: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/waxcamps/index.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #35 April 10, 2006 WOW! Is right. Those are really impressive. - Thanks for sharing. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #36 April 11, 2006 Photo #1: Day 3 on the river. The cliffs are starting to disappear and the land is opening up to big hills. Photo #2: A beautiful grassy sandbar is our campsite for the night. Can you find the rock formation called "The Rabbit" in this photo? Photo #3: There's "The Rabbit"! Photo #4: Here's my little slice of campsite for Day 3. I've pulled my canoe up on the bank, and erected my tent on a little tuft of grass for softness, and laid out my sleeping bag and pillow. I have my cooler, water jug and comfy chair with me. And the sound of gurgling water is just a few feet away to lull me to sleep. Life is good. This was an island location, with the river splitting and going down both sides, left and right. So there was no traipsing off for an evening stroll to see what was in the neighborhood. That's my summer one-man tent, with mesh sides to allow the breeze to blow through, but keep the bugs out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #37 April 11, 2006 Photos 1 & 2: Another candelilla camp, located on a sand bar. We spotted the boiling vat first, next to a fire pit. I then explored for the worker's campsite and found this cave up a canyon. The cave contained an iron frying pan, a broken coffee cup, a bottle of aspirin, and a food bag (empty) dangling from the end of a stick jammed into a crevice, to keep the food away from mice. Photo 3: Do you like rocks? There were two large veins of quartz crystals in the cliffs by our campsite on day 3. The crystals were finger-sized. Photo 4: Speaking of rocks, here's a nice fossil impression. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #38 April 12, 2006 Photo #1: Frazer and Janice take a stroll in a deep slot canyon. Photo #2: Lunch break in the shade of a narrow canyon, with nice rocks to sit upon. I'm the handsome guy on the far right. Photo #3: So there I was just minding my own business, strolling through a canyon admiring the sights. When suddenly I heard a crashing sound, looked up, and spied a giant boulder falling right on top of me! I ducked, and most luckily, the boulder wedged itself between the two sides of the cliff, just inches short of my head, preventing if from crushing me like a bug. Phew! Photo #4: The skull of some beast embedded in the canyon floor, who wasn't as fortunate as I was in Photo #3. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #39 April 12, 2006 <far right. >> You trying to get this moved to SC? sorry, beer talking typing. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #40 April 12, 2006 Quote<far right. >> You trying to get this moved to SC? Yeah, I guess that lunch position may be symbolic of some other positions too! Photo #1: This is the one rapid that nobody wanted to try running - not even the experts. It was a narrow channel, with very fast-moving water, which would send you crashing through overhanging reeds, and directly towards a protruding rock. We pulled over at the gravel bar to the right to check it out, and after a lot of discussion, no one wanted to go for it. I was happy with that decision, because I know that rock would have had me for lunch. So instead, we "lined" our canoes through this rapid. This means that you hold the bow and stern lines, one in each arm, and you float your canoe through the rapid while controlling it from the river bank, or shallow water on the edge. By angling the canoe just right, you can have the water flow maintain positive outward pressure on the ropes, and then by changing the lengths of the two ropes you can steer it downstream and past obstructions. Kind of like leading a dog on a leash. A very big, sometimes uncooperative dog. The trick is to not let the current get too firm a hold on the canoe sideways, or the force will pull you in. In this photo, Frazer is lining his canoe past the nasty stuff. The other choice was to carry the canoes over the rocks to the other side. Lining is much easier... Rapids are rated from Class I to Class VI, based upon degree of difficulty, with I being mild, and VI being deadly. All the rapids in this section were Class I, except for about two rapids that were Class II's. They said it was a great stretch of water for me to learn on, as there wasn't anything really crazy. Even the experienced canoeists will only go through Class III at the worst, due to the inherent instability of a canoe. In a big rubber raft, I've been through Class V stuff - but you just can't safely go over an 8' waterfall in a canoe. Photo #2: My only action shot of myself. I was way too busy trying to stay upright during the rapids to take any pictures myself. This one was taken by someone else who had already gone through it, and stopped to get some shots of others. This must have been one of the more mild rapids, as I'm sitting upright on the seat. When the going got really hairy, I would squat down inside the boat with my knees spread wide on the floor, to lower the center of gravity, and get better side-to-side control. It also allowed me to duck lower to avoid the river cane hanging off the riverbank, which tries to scrape your face off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #41 April 13, 2006 Photo #1: A turtle called a red-eared slider. There were a lot of these on the Rio Grande. Most of them would slip into the water before I got close enough for a photo, but this old fellow was kind enough to pose for me. Photo #2: Day 4, and we've finally reached the bridge crossing which marks our take-out point. This is called the Lalinda bridge, named after a small Mexican village on the other side. The village provided workers for a fluorite mine and processing plant, and the bridge was the way to get the fluorite trucks into the U.S. to sell the goods. Fluorite is used in electroplating, stainless steel, refrigerants, aluminum, ceramics and glass. But the mine has panned out and the plant and village are now mostly a ghost town with only a few residents. It was only a single-lane bridge to start with, and as you can see, it has been shut down very thoroughly after 9/11/01 for security. There is no more legal traffic here. There is a steel cage around the bridge to prevent pedestrians from getting across, and rows of concrete barriers to stop any trucks from crashing through. As for the pedestrians, it's just a short 50-yard swim across the river... Photo #3: The take-out. The canoes have been unloaded and everything hauled up the riverbank. We are awaiting arrival of the women, who we sent off hiking to the ranch to retrieve the vehicles. Then everything is loaded, canoes strapped down on top, and we head off our separate ways. Except for Natalie, who got to haul me two hours back to my car where it was parked at the put-in location four days ago. Photo #4: The end of trip group photo. I like the composition, with the canoe in the foreground, and cliffs in the background. I'm the handsome guy on the far right again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #42 April 13, 2006 Thanks John.. I enjoyed that. A number of those picture show some wonderful scenery. Do you plan these trip much in advance? Where's the next one likly to be? Regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pincheck 0 #43 April 13, 2006 your a luck man to have the time for such interesting trips. thanks for sharing Billy-Sonic Haggis Flickr-Fun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 1 #44 April 13, 2006 Nice! Sounds like a great trip. I'm jealous! QuotePhoto #2: In the water, and headed into the first canyon! And now I have this picture as my background. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #45 April 14, 2006 QuoteDo you plan these trip much in advance? Where's the next one likly to be? That particular trip was planned months in advance, as it required numerous preparations and coordinations. If I'm going off by myself for a weekend of hiking somewhere, I may make that decision only a week in advance. It all depends upon the distance and complexity. This trip was done with Louis and Dana, two guys I kept running into on canyon hikes to see old Indian caves with paintings on the rock walls. Many of those are special run events, because they require pre-arranged access to private land, so it involves a group. Then in the campgrounds at night I would run into them again, and we spent many nights chatting for hours, looking at the Milky Way overhead, and watching for satellites to streak across the night sky. So we got to know each other quite a bit from those. And after a while, they invited me on their canoe trip - they do about two of these per year. So I'm part of their "in" crowd now. I've been vetted and found worthy. Woohoo! I hope to do more multi-day canoe trips. There are other sections of the Rio Grande just as magnificent. And also wilderness Texas rivers like the Pecos and Devil's Rivers. I want to do them all! I'm in the market for a good, cheap used canoe... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #46 April 14, 2006 QuoteQuotePhoto #2: In the water, and headed into the first canyon! And now I have this picture as my background. I'm quite flattered. See message #28 for what I think are the best photos of all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #47 April 14, 2006 Quoteyour a luck man to have the time for such interesting trips. thanks for sharing Sometimes I just take a week off without pay to do such things. But I have an accomodating boss who is generous in accepting my disappearances. Did I give the impression that I was done? Well, for the river canoeing part of the trip, indeed I was. But, Louis, Dana and I still had two days to kill before returning to the modern world again, so we hung around in Big Bend National Park, and did some primitive camping and out-of-the-way wilderness hiking. One of my hikes was a sprint up the side of "Devil's Den". We had settled into a campsite rather early, about 3:00 in the afternoon, and had about three and a half hours until sunset. I would've been bored. So I decided to take a quick hike up "Devil's Den", which is a small canyon I've been eyeing for several years, and never got the time to explore. Photo #1: "Devil's Den". I didn't have time to hike the inside of the canyon, as that is very rugged with boulders, brush, and steep pour-off's. So I hiked the rim along the top edge. This photo shows the canyon cut into the side of the mountain, and the trail up the edge. It doesn't look like much from here, but wait until you get closer. You start the hike with about a mile and a half of open brushy desert, just to get to the bottom of the canyon. Photo #2: Now you can see the canyon zig-zagging its way up the mountainside. The walls are about 200 to 300 feet high, and it's carved out of solid rock. Photo #3: Another view, further uphill, where the canyon gets deeper. Photo #4: Self portrait, wearing my POPS t-shirt, near the top end of the canyon. I carry a light-weight camera tripod in my backpack, for just such occasions. One of these days I'll be back there, to hike the inside of the canyon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #48 April 14, 2006 Miscellaneous Devil's Den photos. #1) A "fun" photo of my own shadow, cast upon the opposite wall of the canyon. #2) A desert hare. These critters are rather tame, and let you get very close before they run off. If I had been an Indian, with a spear or throwing stick, this wascally wabbit would've been my dinner. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites shropshire 0 #49 April 14, 2006 Thanks John. Look forward to reading about your next exped. Regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Luminous 0 #50 April 17, 2006 Cool stuff John. However, I'm unable to find any handsome men on the far right of any pic. Maybe cropped? Cheers. Larry'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' 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JohnRich 4 #45 April 14, 2006 QuoteDo you plan these trip much in advance? Where's the next one likly to be? That particular trip was planned months in advance, as it required numerous preparations and coordinations. If I'm going off by myself for a weekend of hiking somewhere, I may make that decision only a week in advance. It all depends upon the distance and complexity. This trip was done with Louis and Dana, two guys I kept running into on canyon hikes to see old Indian caves with paintings on the rock walls. Many of those are special run events, because they require pre-arranged access to private land, so it involves a group. Then in the campgrounds at night I would run into them again, and we spent many nights chatting for hours, looking at the Milky Way overhead, and watching for satellites to streak across the night sky. So we got to know each other quite a bit from those. And after a while, they invited me on their canoe trip - they do about two of these per year. So I'm part of their "in" crowd now. I've been vetted and found worthy. Woohoo! I hope to do more multi-day canoe trips. There are other sections of the Rio Grande just as magnificent. And also wilderness Texas rivers like the Pecos and Devil's Rivers. I want to do them all! I'm in the market for a good, cheap used canoe... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #46 April 14, 2006 QuoteQuotePhoto #2: In the water, and headed into the first canyon! And now I have this picture as my background. I'm quite flattered. See message #28 for what I think are the best photos of all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #47 April 14, 2006 Quoteyour a luck man to have the time for such interesting trips. thanks for sharing Sometimes I just take a week off without pay to do such things. But I have an accomodating boss who is generous in accepting my disappearances. Did I give the impression that I was done? Well, for the river canoeing part of the trip, indeed I was. But, Louis, Dana and I still had two days to kill before returning to the modern world again, so we hung around in Big Bend National Park, and did some primitive camping and out-of-the-way wilderness hiking. One of my hikes was a sprint up the side of "Devil's Den". We had settled into a campsite rather early, about 3:00 in the afternoon, and had about three and a half hours until sunset. I would've been bored. So I decided to take a quick hike up "Devil's Den", which is a small canyon I've been eyeing for several years, and never got the time to explore. Photo #1: "Devil's Den". I didn't have time to hike the inside of the canyon, as that is very rugged with boulders, brush, and steep pour-off's. So I hiked the rim along the top edge. This photo shows the canyon cut into the side of the mountain, and the trail up the edge. It doesn't look like much from here, but wait until you get closer. You start the hike with about a mile and a half of open brushy desert, just to get to the bottom of the canyon. Photo #2: Now you can see the canyon zig-zagging its way up the mountainside. The walls are about 200 to 300 feet high, and it's carved out of solid rock. Photo #3: Another view, further uphill, where the canyon gets deeper. Photo #4: Self portrait, wearing my POPS t-shirt, near the top end of the canyon. I carry a light-weight camera tripod in my backpack, for just such occasions. One of these days I'll be back there, to hike the inside of the canyon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #48 April 14, 2006 Miscellaneous Devil's Den photos. #1) A "fun" photo of my own shadow, cast upon the opposite wall of the canyon. #2) A desert hare. These critters are rather tame, and let you get very close before they run off. If I had been an Indian, with a spear or throwing stick, this wascally wabbit would've been my dinner. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #49 April 14, 2006 Thanks John. Look forward to reading about your next exped. Regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luminous 0 #50 April 17, 2006 Cool stuff John. However, I'm unable to find any handsome men on the far right of any pic. Maybe cropped? Cheers. Larry'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' Mr. Spock Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
