Trip report: Rio Chama, New Mexico

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Jetlab67
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Name: Paul
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Trip report: Rio Chama, New Mexico

Post by Jetlab67 » Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:03 pm

I traveled to Abiquiú, New Mexico over Memorial Day weekend to packraft the Rio Chama River plus mountain bike and hike the surrounding area. This is an amazing part of northern New Mexico, removed from the tourist vibe of Taos and Sante Fe. Abiquiú is bounded by the Carson NF to the north and east and the Sante Fe NF to the south and west. The area was considered the frontier during Spanish colonial days and many settlements are built upon the ruins of Tewa and Pueblo villages. Roaming off the beaten path on BLM and NF lands, one can find many examples of the various Indian cultures. Beautiful as the Chama basin is, this land has absorbed much blood. Continuous cross-raiding by the nomadic Apache, Comanche, Ute and Navajo against the Tewa, Pueblo and Hispano outposts occurred until nearly the arrival of the twentieth century. Sadly, much of the raiding was fueled by a vibrant slave trade. Amazing history this area has!

Airbnb led me to a great place from which to base my activities https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10473647?s=Yf7Ug6Z-. Saturday morning I awoke an hour earlier than local time since my watch was still set to CDT. Six-thirty am, coffee in hand, I drove the 20-minutes north to the lower Chama and Big Eddy takeout. Quite a few rigs were parked there, undoubtedly awaiting their owners finishing multiday trips that started below El Vado dam. I parked alongside them and unloaded my mountain bike. Shouldering my pack with all my river gear and packraft, I began the ride up the canyon along FR151 which parallels the Chama 13-miles to a Monastery at road’s end. The uphill sections weren’t epic but at 7,000’ my lungs felt so. A portion of the CDT or Continental Divide Trail uses the road and I encountered a couple of through-hikers during my ride. I arrived at the launch in a little over an hour.
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The put in was busy as several groups were rigging and trying to get underway. Based on the looks I got, none of these folks had seen a packraft up close. One group, the Carpenter family—three generations to be exact—were ready to shuttle back down to the takeout and offered me a ride. I was able to scout the river on the bike ride up and was thinking it would be a lot more fun if I didn’t have a MTB broken down and strapped to the front of my packraft. I graciously accepted their offer. The Chama was pushing 2,500 cfs and had been up to 4,000 cfs the day prior. Most of the canyon’s class II-III is in this section and the pushy, sediment-laden flow created some very nice wave-trains and a few holes. I had a great day with the Carpenter family, getting the benefit of 40-years of running this river. It was really neat watching grandparents, parents and grandkids collectively enjoying the beauty of this place and each other’s company. I felt very privileged that they taken an outsider into their circle! The BLM and USFS jointly manage this section of the National Wild and Scenic Rio Chama as a day-run and there are several developed camps on river left one of which the Carpenter family was encamped at. Special rules apply such as self-issued permits and a mandatory groover—I made a “kayak groover” from RV sewer pipe and caps to BLM specs. The weather was perfect, mid-eighties highs and lows in the forties plus almost no humidity. Water temps were extremely COLD and I was very glad I packed my drytop! We did the 8 ½-mile Chavez Canyon to Big Eddy run in about 3-hours.
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At the takeout, Richard Carpenter—mid-seventies family patriarch and rafter extraordinaire—invited me to join them the following day, Sunday, for a 15-mile run down the upper Rio Chama above El Vado lake. I excitedly accepted his offer! I managed to get in an afternoon hike up a canyon directly across from “my pueblo.” The canyon constricted into a series of three slots over about 3-miles. Scanning the canyon walls for petroglyphs and pictograms, I made my way up and down the canyon in a couple hours. My black Lab Faith was content to flush the occasional rabbit while thoroughly wearing herself out. The geology around Abiquiú is very interesting as it sits on the margin of the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande rift. There’s a lot of scenery to digest in such a short period of time.

Dinner at El Paragua in Española was good albeit the service wasn’t so. I can’t say I’d recommend it afterwards but I was tired and it was close plus highly-rated. The green chili breakfast burrito from Bodes in Abiquiú on Sunday morning was possibly the best I’ve ever had. I met the Carpenter’s near Ghost Ranch on Hwy. 84 and we headed north towards Tierra Amarilla briefly stopping so Richard could drop off an Israeli girl hiking the CDT. They had met her along FR151 and she asked for a ride north to the next trailhead. She told us she’d done the AT last year and was about 2-weeks into the CDT.

The put in for the “Mama Chama” run is the Hwy 95 bridge just west of Los Ojos. We set our shuttle using the take out on the upper end of El Vado lake which requires about a mile of flatwater paddling due to lake effect. There’s another takeout three or so miles upriver from El Vado popular with kayakers but not so much with rafters as it involves a hike out of the canyon. We got underway by 10 am, our fleet comprised of a baby-cat, 2-duckies and my packraft. We were the only boaters on the river. This section was vastly different than the lower Chama the day before. It’s small and intimate, flowing into an impressive canyon after about 3-miles which you remain in until the takeout. It reminded me somewhat of lower Richland except for the open Ponderosa and Piñon pine forest. At nearly 800 cfs it was continuous class II with some class III drops in between. We did the 15-mile run in about 4-hours including a comfortable lunch stop.
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This paddle was a real treat and not well-known outside local boaters. The Carpenter’s have since invited me to their home in Aztec, NM and I’ll be stopping by next month while I’m out on the San Juan. I finished off the day with an amazing chile relleno at El Farolito in El Rito which is about 20-minutes east of Abiquiú and very close to Ojo (Rio) Caliente hot springs. Farolito’s attracts a crowd every night but Monday when it's closed. They’re cheap, family-run and serve up incredible NM fare. Bring cash and your own beer. Now laden with two sopapillas (not even close to what you find here in AR) I got in one last sunset hike up to P’oshu’owingheh, a 15th century pueblo ruin on a mesa top just south of Abiquiú overlooking the Rio Chama. The pueblo once housed over two thousand people. This was a great trip to one of my favorite areas. I paddled a 2016 Alpacka Yak packraft which I’ve customized by adding 4-point thigh straps and an ethafoam adjustable backband.
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Paul Smith

Getting lost is never a waste of time - Jack Johnson

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okieboater
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Re: Trip report: Rio Chama, New Mexico

Post by okieboater » Thu Jun 09, 2016 4:00 pm

Jetlab67,

Man, that is one heck of a good write up for Rio Chama and the surrounding area. The only WW toy I do not have is a pack raft and after reading your trip report, maybe I can convince Santa to put one on the sled for me. Rio Chama is a great introduction to desert river runs. Fun little rapids and from the put in at the dam down to your take out is a miniature sample of western river runs in that you start in beautiful forested canyon views and end up in true desert sandstone. Just fun if you can get water and a multiday permit.

I was introduced to Rio Chama back in the mid '90s via a Far Flung Guide school. We did our multi day training there before doing our WW stuff in Pilar and Lower Box.

Since then I have made almost annual trips back there for Rio Chama, Pilar and lower box runs. Rio Chama is in my opinion one of the best multi day runs and most anyone can do it. Glad you made a pack raft float as most of my Rio Chama floats have been in rafts and one IK float. Way back when a bunch of us kayakers did that mama chama upper run and the paddle out across the lake was brutal so we never went back.

Bode's store (depending on time of day) is a must ice cream or breakfast burreto stop for me in the area. That store is one of the few old time every thing general stores I know of.

Next time you are out there head over to Pilar and do the road side class 3 run. You can scout most of it from the highway. A real hoot of a run and you can run laps easily. My favorite NM place to eat is Zuly's in Dixon NM which is close to the Pilar run take out just a mile or two off the main highway. On weekends Sugars BBQ is also worth stopping at just a few miles down river from the Dixon cutoff. Great camping there along the Rio Grande at the BLM campground just a mile or so up from the Pilar run put in.

Excellent trip report and I appreciate you taking the time to post up and share your experiences out there. Like you I have met some exceptional folks along Rio Chama, Pilar run and lower Box.
Okieboater AKA Dave Reid

We are not sure when childhood ends and adulthood begins.

We are sure that when retirement begins, childhood restarts

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Randy Dodson
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Re: Trip report: Rio Chama, New Mexico

Post by Randy Dodson » Thu Jun 09, 2016 8:48 pm

Paul, on your way to Aztec, you may go through Cuba NM. if you do I highly recommend stopping for a meal at Bruno's. it looks run down from the outside but when you step inside you realize you're actually in a pretty upscale New Mexican food restaurant.

I've had New Mexican food all over northern New Mexico and SW Colorado and Bruno's is the VERY BEST I've ever had. I think they have a location in Albuquerque also but Cuba is the original.

Here's to a great Chili Relleno :flame: :canoe:
Parrot Head Paddler

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