Fritz -
Thanks for sharing the river experiences.
Look forward to meeting you. Bring Shiner. Madly getting ready to spend
October in the Chinese Karst - taking another group of mature cavers. That's
why we miss October Texican cavers getting together. October is by far the best
time for tourism as summers are terrible in that part of China - awfully muddy,
rainy, can't see for S (= the rain and drizzle and clouds). Rains 6 feet/yr
there, dissolving limestone and making the spectacular karst. Back to Aurora CO
(home base - if you can find us here) in November.
LOWER CANYONS are a specific reach - downstream from Big Bend National Park to
Lake Amistad. Surprised you did not know that. Generally from La Linda - Black
Gap- Dudley Harrison's take out southeast of Dryden - but actually extend to
Langtry and the flat-water of Lake Amistad. We usually took 7 or 8 days to two
weeks to make the trip and do work along the way. Canoes can do it in about 4
days without feeling too rushed and if you don't spend much time on shore. In
canoes you can go faster if you really have to - which was the circumstance
with the snake bite. This is the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic now - We did a
lot of Texas Natural Areas Survey work down there. I took NPS Muckey-Mucks
down through that when they were still deliberating making the designation.
The "Lower Lower" informally refers to the reach from Dudley's (Dryden
Crossing) to Langtry. Arranged for a Park Service power boat to meet us at
slack water, help churn through all the floating debris (cane, sticker bushes,
and cactus), and tow us on to Jack Skyles. I logged several thousand miles on
the Rio Grande - mostly in the 70s. Said snake bite was a copperhead.
Lower canyon references:
http://www.nps.gov/rigr/planyourvisit/lower_cyns.htm
http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/riogrande8.html
In 1978 I had made arrangements for a TV crew from Dallas to meet us in the
Lower Canyons and do a promotion for the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute.
They flew into the canyons to shatter the tranquility on one of our Lower
Canyons trips, but were lost in Mexico for a while. We saw them pass over us,
but the pilot kept going because he knew that the little stream down there
could not possibly be the mighty Rio Grande. He went about 50 miles (but
refused to admit the distance after describing flying over places I knew well)
into Mexico before he gave up looking for “the other river”. They coulda used
a sat phone! I later worked with the same TV crew in Big Bend National Park
and Robert O. Owens’ Big Bend Ranch, which also ultimately entered the Public
Domain.
We plan to be in Terlingua around Thanksgiving involved in a major
construction project on the squat. Visitors will be put to work - and
appreciated. More leisurely early Feb - April. You and a few others might
think of making a visit. April Fools is a good possibility for us.
Brackettville is a reasonable drive east.
DirtDoc
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fritz Holt" [email protected]
Dwight,
>>>>Interesting post. In the mid 1960’s a buddy and I canoed - - - - -
>>>>>I have never understood which are the upper canyons and which are the
>>>>>lower canyons. Please explain.
