Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

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Fish
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Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Fish » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:07 am

Thinking about going to Big Bend and doing the Rio Grande mid-March. Never been, so if anyone has done it and can provide some info/tips, I'd be much obliged.

What's the weather/temps like that time of year? Water temp warm enough for swimming at camp? Usually low or high water in March? Will a raft be able to make it down? Min levels for rafting? What section is best for a 2 -3 day run? Do I need any permits for overnight trip? What's the camping on the river like? What's a good outfitter to pay to run shuttle?

Muchas gracias!
Fish

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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Dan Daniel » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:34 am

Check your private messages and FB please.
Thanks
Dan

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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by okieboater » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:44 am

Been down there several times.

One of my most favorite places.

Awesome hikes, lots of solitude, interesting history and keep your gas tank full as distances between gas stations are few and widely dispersed.

Main campground is Rio Grande Village altho the Chiso mountain is really neat camping but hard to get a site.

Spring Break is the most crowded time of year to go.

My Trips have been in December and January.

Temps have been shirt sleeve in day time, down to freezing at night.

One year on Lower Canyons hi 60's and comfortable day, went to sleep, woke up to a flash flood and had to secure canoes. Back to bed. Horizontal snow and sleet in the AM. Morning came and impossible to get outside the tent. Spent the day in the tents. Late afternoon quit long enough to cook a meal outside in relative comfort. Went back to the tents, woke up to thick ice on tents and ropes. Did not get on the river till noon. This is just to alert you that in wintertime anything is possible. Do not know about Spring Break time, but I would be prepared for both hot and cold camping.

Water in the Rio Grande is normally pretty thin. You cannot drink this stuff. Even after years of drinking the splash from the Tulsa Wave, I want no part of the Rio Grande big bend water. Carry all your drinking water, even to wash dishes. I would not swim in this water. Canoes work best due to having to drag over shoals etc. I have been on upper and lower canyons and both are just awesome trips. Night time star gazing is as good as it gets..

Camping is not allowed on Mexican side by Border Patrol. But, it happens. Border Patrol has all sort of rules and they change, recommend you contact the Park Ranger and ask them for latest changes.

Best short trip is in the upper or mid canyons. If you enter on lower canyons the take out is usually 7 days away, maybe shorter if you can keep up a good pace. You must have a permit but it is available on demand at the Ranger Station.

No matter what you float the best guide books are by Louis F Aulbach. Google him. You can order from him direct. I have talked to him and he is a real source of information.

Desert Sports is good for the Upper Canyons, Ted Thayer in Marathon is the man for lower canyons. I have used both and both worked out great. Ted is indeed the man and will work with you on just about anything.

I recommend a sat phone rental for the lower canyons, Upper canyons not as wild, but a sat phone would be nice.

You have to visit Terlingua (spelling?) and spend at least one day up on the mountain Chiso Mt Basin has awesome views and camping if you can get a site. Plenty of short hikes on the mountain.

Best short river trip would be thru Santa Elena Canyon. Awesome canyon, we camped in the middle on one trip.

Good camping at Cottonwood Camp grounds just below the bottom exit of Santa Elena Canyon.

Even if you do not float, plenty of places to see but distances are big time and gas and water hard to find in the park.

If you decide to go shoot me a email if any more questions.
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Roger » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:44 am

What section are you looking at, Fish mon?
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by kru1 » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:46 am

Did Rio trip about 8 years back. I have a short list of down river trips but that was my favorite.

We did a 9 day trip. Put on a Big Bend Ranch State Park above Colorado Canyon and took off at Santa Elena River Access in Big Bend NP. You could probably do any of the 3 canyons as 2/3 day trip. The only one I have done is Santa Elena. We took two canoes and one fully loaded cat a raft.

If you do Santa Elena, you can put on Lajitas and do a short float down to Entrance Rapid Campground (see pic) and camp for a night (could spend a week there if you want). There are tons of hiking trails and the gravel bar is huge. It is the entrance to the canyon. We spent two nights there, and then did a float down to Fern Canyon (a tributary in Santa Elena Canyon) and spent a night there. Risky cause you are in a canyon and it could flash, but we chanced it and explored the area.

Don't know the water level, but it was lower. We did have to drag the cat a raft over a shoal or two in Rock Slide Rapid.

The first and last nights in the park we stayed at Rio Grande Village. Visit the hot springs, they are a must.

You do need a permit, but you can get it when you get there. They will check your gear to make sure you have fire pan and groover. We got a shuttle from an outfitter in Terlingua.

Hope that helps,
kru
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Fern Canyon at Night
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Entrance Rapid Campground
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Fish » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:26 am

okieboater wrote: I would not swim in this water.
Well, unlike you Dave, some of us don't have a lot of choice but to swim when our boats are suddenly removed from our possession by a rapid. :-)

Seriously, is the water quality so bad that you would not want to flip a kayak over in it? Safe to take kids on? Even after boating in downtown KC for a few years where water quality is often "motor oil and paint cans", I'm not sure I want to go on a trip where I'm afraid to jump in the river...

Thanks for the info!

- Fish

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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by okieboater » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:55 am

I have been thinking seriously since beginning of the year to just drive down to Big Bend and hang out. It is that neat of a place.

Big Bend scenery is first class.

Floating the canyons in Big Bend is one of the best float trips around.

Hiking and just sight seeing in Big Bend is big time fun.

Camping in the Big Bend Ranger Developed Camps and even the primitive camps is really fun.

Just don't drink or swim in the Rio Grande!!!!!

By the time the Rio gets to Big Bend it is full of city and farm pollution from CO NM down and all of western TX. It is only when the Mexican Dam managers decide to flush some of their water into the Rio Grande that quality improves just a bit.

Look and float on the Rio Grande just don't put your kiddo's in it's water.
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Roger » Mon Feb 10, 2014 6:52 pm

Fish, here are some options for the Bend and river activities. You can day trip Colorado Canyon in a raft with some nice side hikes in a long day. I remember a spring/pool on a bench above the river at a lunch break on the river right.

Santa Elena is a minimum two-day with the obligatory layover at the huge sandy beach just before entering the canyon. Just hope the wind doesn't blow as I ended up with sand in my evening enchiladas due to an unexpected sand storm that blew up during the meal!!

Chisos Basin is a must see. It's got camping and a "lodge" with a restaurant. I had the Chisos Burger!!! There's a hike down a creek to the edge of the mountain called the Window that is really neat.

Lots of car touring available with a drives to Terlingua Abaja and other neat places to visit.

If you're in Lajitas, you might want to look in on Clay Henry the (?). He's the beer-drinking goat who's predecessor almost got elected mayor of the town.

If you like naked mountains, you love the Big Bend!!! Car camp, paddle a river and see some awesome sights.
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Owl » Mon Feb 10, 2014 7:30 pm

A number of your questions can be answered at the link below:

http://www.nps.gov/rigr/planyourvisit/rigr_river.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, the Big Bend Chat message board has a lot of useful information and helpful members who are very familiar with Big Bend. Link below:

http://www.bigbendchat.com/portal/forum/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A number of years ago, two other guys and I did a six day trip through Boquillas Canyon at river levels about what they are now (river levels can be found in the Daily Report on the NPS Big Bend Website, link below). We were in canoes and had no dragging. As others have said, the Rio Grande is polluted enough that you wouldn't want to swim in it.

http://www.nps.gov/bibe/daily_report.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Big Bend NP is one of my favorite places. It has the river, the Chisos mountains, and the desert and they all have something magical and special to offer.

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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Fish » Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:17 am

Man, thanks for all the info. Was thinking of going and taking my kid, but I don't think mom is going to like the water quality issues. In fact, I'm a bit concerned myself... Trying to keep an 11 year old out of the water seems like setting myself up for failure.

Maybe I'll head to Chattooga for a trip with the kido. I've swum there before and look how I turned out. :)

- Bill

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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by okieboater » Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:48 am

Fish,
Don't let the rule of thumb that is - do not swim or drink the Rio Grande water keep you and the family from
experiencing the other neat things Big Bend has to offer.

As has been mentioned before, tons of things to do in Big Bend besides swimming in the river.

Chisos Basin is just a awesome place to spend a few days.

Terlingua is worth a day as is Lahittas (spelling is not perfect on both of these places). Starlight Theater is kind of expensive but the food and atmosphere is really "old west".

Camping at Cottonwood Camp grounds and hiking up the mouth of the Canyon is very neat.

By the way, swimming in the river (entirely my opinion) one time is not gonna be instant paralysis - but multiple swims just might ( again my opinion) get your sinus or throat some nasty visitors.. I waded in it a lot on all my trips pulling boats over the riffles. I for sure would not want a little one to jump in and get that water in their mouth or especially sinus area.

I love the Chattooga area as I grew up roaming those mountains. Big Bend is the kind of scenery and history that is entirely different from the Chattooga area and worth a visit.
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Cowper » Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:04 am

Many years since I was down there, but it was a great trip through the Lower Canyons. The only tip I haven't seen explicitly stated is this one, which I assume is still valid: Don't leave your car or truck parked anywhere near the border unattended (as in, even a few miles), and keep your gear in sight whenever possible. Your shuttle service should be able to provide advice about the current situation, but when I was there it was pretty well understood that the US authorities were pretty much powerless against "snatch and grabs" that ran back across the border. You can't have international incidents started over a broken window and a few stolen personal belongings.
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Owl » Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:06 am

To illustrate how easy it is to cross the border in the park, below are a couple photos I took the last time I was down there. The guys on horseback were near the River Road close to the Mexican village of San Vicente just west of Rio Grande Village and the river photo is the Rio Grande at the Boquillas Canyon overlook near Rio Grande Village.
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PC240065.JPG

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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by okieboater » Wed Feb 12, 2014 10:06 am

Yup, Rangers still advise not to leave your car unattended on the river parking lots. Due to the shuttle distances, I have used shuttle services who have rode to the put in with us, driven the trucks back to their safe parking lots and put the trucks at the take out point a few hours before we are scheduled to arrive.

As far as crossing the river (US / Mexico) border. Normally, river is anywhere from ankle to knee deep and not very wide. At the US Park viewing areas along the river, it is common to see a little display of local Mexican made items usually walking sticks etc out in the open at US river edge. There will be a Mexican National setting directly across from the items. The routine is you drop the money into a can and buy the item. Then the Mexican National wades across and takes the money out of the can.

The only problem with this setup is that type of activity is not allowed by the Rangers. So, if they happen to find any of the stuff in your vehicle they will confiscate it. At the Ranger curio stores in the park, you can buy similar items legally. These items are guaranteed to be made by local Mexican Nationals and imported legally into the US.

I have been to Big Bend three times and plan to go more. Only Rangers I have seen is at the check in points. I am told the Rangers do patrol just never seen them. Same for Border Patrol, there is one Border Patrol check point on the highway headed North out of Terlingua. Bottom line, lots of space to patrol and not many Ranger or Border Patrol agents to do the patrolling.
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Re: Tips on Spring Break on the Rio Grande?

Post by Owl » Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:10 pm

okieboater wrote:...it is common to see a little display of local Mexican made items usually walking sticks etc out in the open at US river edge. There will be a Mexican National setting directly across from the items. The routine is you drop the money into a can and buy the item. Then the Mexican National wades across and takes the money out of the can....
The below photo was taken in the Boquillas Canyon overlook parking lot.
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sale items.JPG

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