We were on the way to the Taos Box put-in, north of Taos, when I saw a car flashing its headlights at us, from behind. I pulled over, and a friend and river guide by the name of Antonio walked up and told me that we had completely lost one of our trailer tires! He stuck around and helped us change the bare rim for our spare. The weather in Taos today was threatening, with fresh snow right down close to town. It was a tad warmer down at the river, but still brisk. The trip consisted of two guests and a training  crew. Returning guides Shane Atkinson and Jesse Mogler were going to share a center-mount oar raft, with trainee Ben Rainchild paddling along with our guests. The paddle boat was captained by NWR Operations Manager Britt Huggins. Needless to say, everyone was bundled up!

How many raft guides (and guests) does it take to change a tire?

Photographed from John Dunn bridge, at the put-in for the Taos Box run on the Rio Grande river of northern New Mexico