In the last few weeks, Mayor Berry has shed some light on his vision for Albuquerque 25 years from now.  In the Sunday, April 24th edition of the Albuquerque Journal mentioned some ideas for improvement, which includes ~ "$30 million for Rio Grande Enhancements." The vision, while still conceptual, suggest a number of kayaking activities. 

Mayor Berry and other from City Hall recently visited Oklahoma City, which in December 2009 approved a $65 million downtown revitalization project, and included a $25 million whitewater park. OKC's whitewater park is a major appeal to the tourism and travel to the area, and through rafting and international competitions, is a major driver of the local economy. Mayor Berry is especially interested in exposing more people to the river and water recreation projects, where people can get their feet wet, and experience the river in new, fun ways.

It's been 20-something years since I've been to Big Bend National Park, and that was long before I started kayaking.  Big Bend National Park is only about 11 hours from Albuquerque, but once you're in Panther Junciton (the heart of the park) you're only an hour or two, at most, from any river access point, making it very easy to hit several sections, back-to-back.

Many New Mexicans have experienced the park through dozens of hiking trails as well as improved and backcountry camping areas.   Climbing and mountain biking are also allowed in the park but are "unofficially discouraged" because there is little written information, the conditions are harsh, and often well away from water sources.  All of this makes kayaking on the Rio Grande River one of the best, and least known ways to experience Big Bend National Park.

I was asked to select a cast of 12 people who've never kayaked before, and teach them the skills they'd need to do a class III multi-day expedition whitewater kayak trip.  The plan is to take them thru the Gila Wilderness during the week of Mar. 12 - 18. However the snowpack is light there now, so we're looking at other options; either Big Bend or possibly the Rio Chama.

Each year the New Mexico Adventure Racing Club host a series of adventure racing clinics, from basic map & compass navigation, to rappelling, kayaking and mountain biking. On March 28th, 12 racers from NMARC met me at Cochiti for a cold wet day of customized kayak training specifically for adventure racing.

For those who are new to Adventure Racing, it's kinda like a triathelon, but instead of swimming, biking and running - it's hiking, mountain biking and kayaking - with a twist.  Instead of relying strictly on strenght, fitness and endurance, almost all legs of an AR involve navigation; that is - using a map & compass to find some hidden point in the terrain. Like Easter Egg hunting, with a map!

Our mission is to provide physical education, recreation, rehabilitation and socialization so that these men and women can experience for themselves the freedom and adventure kayaking has to offer as well as the camaraderie the paddling community has to offer. 

Watch the gauge on the Racecourse. The Rio Grande often rises a few hundred cfs in October (usually earlier than this though), so it wouldn't surprise me of the Racecourse got up to 500-1000 cfs over the next few days.  Get out and paddle, if you can. It's like paddling a different river with every increase of 100cfs.

Upper Rio Grand; Upper Box
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?08263500

State Park
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?08276500

Notice the lag between the two.

If the Racecourse is still a bit intimidating, the State Park is runable again above 450cfs.  The State Park doesn't change too much with increases in flow. It's still almost always class I, with Gauging Station a Class II...very predictable.

Happy paddling!
Kelly