Low Water Taos Box Descent – Day 2

Even with low water, October can be the right time to be in the Taos Box.

A low water run in the Taos Box after all the rafters have moved on turned out to be well worth the effort. The wildlife short list would include Golden Eagles, Prairie Falcons, Osprey, Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, Red-tailed Hawks and of course the Otters. Throwing mostly spinners, the best Brown Trout fishing was after Manby Hot Springs (day 1) all the way to Screaming Right Rapid (day 2). At 330 cfs (cubic feet/second) we got an excellent view of the boulders that create the waves, holes and hydraulics of all the rapids. If you missed “Day 1” here’s the link.

We had a great encounter with a family of 5 River Otters in the afternoon.

Ahh, a hot coffee, hot fire morning.

Yes, there was ice in our drinking water but the Jet Boil soon had hot java in the cup. This sandy beach was just big enough for the three of us. There were not many such spots once we were in the Playground section.

Scouting Dead Car Rapid, class 3, from river left. WOW, that’s a lot of boulders. Following a good morning of floating and of course more fishing, we came to our first rapid of the day and decided that the usual left run would do just fine. Getting momentarily stuck at the entry but all it took was a little shimmy, shimmy and off we went.

View of the the lower part of Dead Car Rapid. That’s what we call “bony”.

First River Otter sighting.

Our first River Otter sighting was early on the second day in the Playground section. Three youngsters were on the East bank and with the low morning sun it was harsh light for photography. We came upon a family of 5 later in the day and the light was much better for photography.

A low water Powerline Falls Rapid (class 4)

From this point to the take-out, at Taos Juction Bridge, not a lot fishing got done but a few Brown Trout were caught on spinners. The Rio Bravo section gets a little busy. LOL

Now that’s “bony”! This is the left side of Powerline Falls where the lining of the raft first required lifting.

Joel surveys the boulders and very little water and wishes there was helium in the raft instead of air. We lifted, tugged, pulled and grunted the raft with all the gear over the boulders before lining the lower section of the falls.

With Todd and Britt upstream to do the heavy lifting that left Joel downstream with the tag line. His job is to not let the raft go downstream without us, so let the grunting begin.

We took several short breaks because this was the hardest we’d worked in weeks. LOL

Ahh. After successfully grunting and lining the raft down the falls. Todd holds the tag line as Joel boulder hops down to the raft securing it to shore.

Looking back upstream at Powerline Falls and wondering where this new boulder came from. Now it’s off to see what the Rock Garden has in-store for us.

Rock Garden Rapid Class 4

We stopped at the usual right shore scout after a successful descent through Pin Ball Rapid, class 3. The above image is four exposures stitched together to make a panorama.

Downstream view of the bottom half of Rock Garden Rapid, class 4. Perhaps you can see how Camel and Shark Fin got their names. Thinking this might be the greatest challenge of the day, it went surprisingly well, just a whole lot of maneuvering around oodles of boulders.

For those thinking of a low water run, go right at Boat Reamer Rapid, class 3. Now this one was a bit tricky after the entry. If I remember correctly we got parked on a exposed boulder below but without consequence.

Downstream view. The raft did not pass through the left run of Screaming Left Rapid, class 3, so while parked, we had a look around.

An upstream view while parked in Screaming Left Rapid.

Next came the new rapid of 2019, WTF, class 3. Having prior knowledge of the right run we didn’t think we would fit through….

….and we didn’t. Here’s Todd, our strong man, lifting the raft upon edge in order to pass between the exposed boulders. Onward through the Boulder Field which was easy read and run until we reached Screaming Right Rapid, class 3. From the left scout it was determined the right entry was the way to proceed.

After entering on the right, we were able to skirt over the right pour-over at the bottom. It was within the next mile that we encountered perhaps 10 fishermen (guys and girls) on river right. They had hiked in from the Vista Verde Trail and when questioned said they were catching no fish. Hmm?

The final rapid, Sunset, was somewhat of a surprise. The clear lane was far right against the large boulder, then left of the two midstream boulders, right of the last one and then the takeout at Taos Junction Bridge.

But wait! What about the River Otters you ask?

Well, watch for “River Otters of the Rio Grande” coming next.

Thanks for stopping in!

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