Sunset Rapid
Wow. That is one big wave! It can knock you right into the lap of the person behind you, as is seen in the video below. Sunset is the last rapid of the trip, just a quarter of a mile upstream of Taos Junction Bridge and the take-out. Also known as Taos Junction Rapid, at high water is a definite Class IV with a eight foot drop and a huge hole river left at the bottom of the rapid. What a way to end the trip.
Video by guide extraordinaire Britt Runyon.
About the Taos Junction Bridge
20 miles to the west of the bridge and up on the mesa was the Taos Junction Railroad Station for the Denver & Rio Grande (Chili Line). The Taos Junction bridge was the principal route across the river before the completion of the Gorge Bridge in 1965. There is still evidence of the settlement around the area of the takeout today. Paul W Bauer writes in his book “The Rio Grande”, “In the 1890’s, Long John Dunn purchased the original wooden bridge, which was destroyed by the 1921 floodwaters that exceeded 14,000 cfs.”
