White water rafting, Rio Grande

Charles organised a white water rafting trip to Pilar south of Taos. We were nine people heading up there. To start with the guides drove us upstream to a bridge across the Rio Grande where we started the rafting. The whole morning was very mellow and relaxing and my hopes for the afternoon on the so called Race course got bigger and bigger. They served us lunch by the river in Pilar. After lunch it did not even take a minute before I got splashed with water. There were a few nice rapids along the Race course but the distance in-between them were too long. The best part was the Souse Hole where we got soaked thoroughly. The last mile was merely transport to the pick-up spot. The guide made us try some trick with the raft where everyone gathered at the stern and he was pulling on a line attached to the bow while one side paddled forward and the other backward to make the raft spin. The guide almost fell into the water but apart from that it was not very exciting.

After the rafting one car headed home to attend some party while the rest of us drove to Embudo Station to have an early dinner. It is a nice place right by the river and they have good food and beer. A lot of cotton was blowing off of the cottonwood trees so it was a struggle to keep the glasses free of cotton.