The Mighty Pecos River

Summer time has arrived, classes are over for three months, and now I can take over for Les for at least one blog post.  This past semester I had one tiny reprieve from biogeography and that was to take my lovely wife on a canoe and camping trip up the Pecos River in Southern Texas.  Spring break allowed a few days to carry out this fantastic adventure.  It all started months earlier when we found out that Big Bend National Park was booked up for camping over spring break.  What to do?  After some pondering I remembered an old park ranger friend of mine, from Glen Canyon NRA, had worked at a lake in Southern Texas called Amistad NRA so we decided to look into this as our camping option.  Amistad is on the Rio Grand just East of Big Bend NP.  Two other major rivers flow into the Rio Grand at this location the Devils River and the Pecos River.  After talking to my park ranger friend and some colleagues in my department at A&M we decided to rent a canoe and paddle up the Pecos river from the slack water of lake Amistad.  Driving down from Bryan we had a wonderful time seeing the transition from post oak savanna to hill country to high desert on the boarder town of Del Rio, TX.  We picked up our canoe in Del Rio and drove west for a few more miles until we reached the Pecos High Bridge boat launch.

We slipped our trusty canoe into the water loaded with dry-bags full of essential survival equipment (books and beer), positioned the steely Cloud Dancing, and glided into the mighty mouth of the Pecos.  We guided our vessel quietly through the dark cold green waters off to find a camp sight for the night.  Cloud Dancing wasn't too keen on the boat but she did manage to stay relatively calm while we paddled.

 

The Pecos offers little in the way of nice sandbars and ideal camp spots so it's imperative that you stay alert to campsites that are available when you encounter them.  After about 4 miles and 4 hours of paddling we found a nice flat outcrop that looked promising.  We pulled up alongside the shelf and unloaded our cargo.  I thought that it would be good to pull our sturdy vessel ashore and so I attempted to maneuver the canoe to a location that would be more conducive to removing it from the river.  As I pulled away our little Cloud Dancing had the horrible idea that I was about to leave her.  Her instincts kicked in and she leaped from the outcrop (possibly 15 feet.... she should be a dock dog) and overshot the canoe landing half in and half out of the canoe.  I wasn't prepared for this and before I could right the ship Cloud began desperately trying to climb aboard.  It was more than our little vessel could handle and in we all went.  Me (the GPS, Binoculars, permits and whatever else was in my pockets), Cloud Dancing, and the canoe.  Cold water a sinking rental canoe and a panicking dog does not make for the start of a nice evening. Don't worry loyal readers I single handedly rescued both the dog and the canoe. Small adventures, that's what makes camping so much fun.  Alas, I had a warm Tecate waiting for me as I dried off and began to set up camp.

   The next couple of days were very relaxing sitting on the edge of the Pecos reading, drinking cowboy coffee, and wandering through the hinterland of Mexico and Texas.  We encountered a wide verity of wildlife mostly migratory birds, including the Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), some wonderful millipedes (Narceus americanus), and Cloud found a North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum),
                      
                                    
thank goodness it was high in a tree eating or our dog may have encountered something more painful than the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) and mesquite (Prosopis pallida).

Two days were reserved for relaxing on the banks of the Pecos and exploring the towering limestone walls.  On the third day we canoed to a fabled canon where the more mechanized forms of travel had problems exploring.

It rained on us continuously but that only seemed to add to the mystique.  It was a fascinating excursion and a perfect end to the our spring break.

 Needless to say, I can't wait to return to Del Rio, The Pecos, and South West Texas.... This is where Texas earns it's reputation, not in Houston or Dallas!  Come visit us and we'll show you what it's all about.