A family float down the Orilla Verde

Today was a beautiful August day to be on the river, sunny in the morning but not too hot and then the monsoons came in the afternoon.  It just so happened that we had a morning Orilla Verde Float trip and my son and I were able to tag along, it helps that the river guide for that trip was also my husband.  We packed our trip and met our customers at the Rio Grande Gorge Visitors Center at 9:30 in the morning and off we went to the Taos Junction Bridge to begin our adventure.  At the bridge we unloaded our boat and all our gear, Eric gave us a safety talk and off we went.  The family that we were rafting with today were from Texas, there was dad Jason, mom Lisa and 4 year old daughter Ani.  Then there was our river guide Eric(my husband), myself, Jo, and our 4 year old son Cale.  It was so nice for the kids to have someone else their own age to play with on the boat.

And let me just say that you don't get much cuter than these two little ones!!! I'm a little biased of course being one of their mom's and all.  

We saw some wildlife, these geese were just out for a mid morning swim.  

As we headed into the gaging station rapid we treated it a little bit like a roller coaster, hands up in the air and giggles all around! 

The kids got hungry so we pulled out the snack on the boat, juicy watermelon, cantaloupe, chips, salsa and chocolate ship cookies.  So good!! 

After snack there was one more rapid and then the takeout was upon us.  Here is a quick shot of Lisa, Ani and Cale.  

At the takeout we ran into the photo girls from Southern Exposure, they take all of our rafting photos, and they took some family photos for us. 

Between the beautiful weather, 2 lovely families, and 4 year old friends, a great day was had by all!! We look forward to taking Jason, Lisa and Ani rafting again, hopefully on another beautiful New Mexico Day!

Family Adventure down the Middle Box

As the Los Rios River Runners office manager, I do not get to boat enough.  The other day I got to go on my favorite trip the Middle Box Funyak Adventure.  I met the Burchett family, some of whom have been rafting with us before, at our boathouse at about 9:15am.  After making sure that everyone had water, appropriate footwear and everything they would need for a day on the river, off went in our Los Rios bus.  Here it is at the trailhead!

The Mid-Box Adventure always starts with a hike down into the gorge.  There are 3 different trails to traverse- Miner's Trail, Cebolla Mesa and Little Arsenic.  On this particular adventure, we chose to traverse Cebolla Mesa, a 1.25 mile trail down a steep gravelly trail with numerous switchbacks. Everyone carries their own paddle, PFD, and helmet.  Here are Dalton and Ceiara at the start of our journey.

The hike down was filled with beautiful views of the river and surrounding landscape.  There was one section of trail, a switchback, that had washed away during the recent rains, making it a little more adventurous.  We had to hike around and even OVER some large boulders that had washed over the trail.  We continued on until we met up with the river guides who were awaiting us in the bottom of the canyon at the river.  The guides leave early and meet Dirk, from Red River Stables, who provides us with the mules that sherpa the rest of the gear down to the river.  This trip required 17 boats, 2 lunch coolers, water and all of the guides' special guide gear.  On the beach, the guides gave us a vital safety speech and then we were ready to take off in our funyaks...but not before a group shot of the whole family and all the guides!!!

On the water is where the fun really begins!  The whole family hopped in their funyaks and off we went down the river.  Here is a candid shot of Grandma and Cindy, one of her daughters.  

Then we ran into a new rapid on the Middle Box section of river.  It was a waterfall with an island at the bottom, you can see Eric, one of our senior guides, standing on the island in the picture below.  It was fun to start the day with a new rapid that even I hadn't seen before, it definitely added even more adventure to our day!  

Then we were on to lunch.  After a long hike down and some funyaking, everyone was super hungry. The guides made a wonderful deli style lunch with tons of vegtables, the avocado was my favorite. Everyone built gigantic sandwiches from our "pop-up" sandwich buffet and enjoyed some chips and salsa followed by COOKIES!!! It was a nice break at the right time and positively hit the spot!  Once lunch was all cleaned up we were off again and floating down the river without leaving a trace!

Further along down the river, we saw big horn sheep as well as a multitude of birds.  My favorite bird, the Great Blue Heron, flew right by us and we chased it down river for a mile or so. Two osprey's circled above as we continued our adventure.  Here, you can watch us gawk up the side of the canyon at all of the awe inspiring native wildlife!  

                                               

On this section of river, there are two solid class 3 rapids; one is Horse Thief Shorty, the other is Garapata Rapid.  Garapata has some big waves and rocks.  Here is a picture of Carla crushing Garapata Rapid! 

And here is Horse Thief Shorty

After mastering the rapids, it was a pretty mellow float with some ripples and rocks to paddle around. By the end of the day, we even had some of the family confident enough to navigate the river standing up in the funyaks and using them like paddle boards! Check out Dalton in the picture below. 

When all was said and done, I'd say our day was not at all shabby!   We had seen some wildlife, gone swimming, eaten a great lunch and enjoyed some whitewater rapids.  I got to hang out with a great family and enjoy a wonderful day off from the busy life of the Los Rios office.  (I love my job, but who wouldn't want to switch it up for an outing like this?!?)  When we finally got to the bus everyone looked happy and were ready to head back to the boatyard.  Had to get one more family shot before we headed out and said goodbye for the evening.  

A great time was had by all, we look forward to rafting with the Burchett family again next year!!

Thanks for rafting with us!

Jo