Retracing of Hill's Survey
Within a few minutes, the river twists and turns through the portals of Heath Canyon. The bridge, the flourspar plant, and the town of La Linda disappear from view. The river and the sun are the dominant players in this world. The five of us in these small canoes seem very insignificant in this vast landscape.
The Rio Grande cuts several small canyons through the foothills of the Sierra Del Carmen in the first day's journey. One small canyon, named Temple Canyon by Hill, bears witness to the prehistoric habitation along the river. The Bourland Canyon pictograph site is a finely carved panel of artistic signs and symbols nestled in a sheltered cliff overhang on the river terrace. Although there is no certain interpretation or dating of the rock art, it shares many stylistic similarities with some of the rock art found in the Lower Pecos region near the confluence of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande.
Nick Helzer breaks camp in the early morning below Temple Canyon.
Beyond Temple Canyon, the river meanders across a broad plain surrounded on all sides by mountainous terrain. These flats conjure up the tales of danger and mystery with their name, Las Vegas de los Ladrones or Outlaw Flats. Yet, the river runs calmly and smoothly through the twenty miles of gravels and banks choked with Carrizo cane. The lone sentinel of Castle Butte is ever-present on the Mexican desert as the river winds around three sides of the eroded volcanic plug.
At the place where Big Canyon joins the Rio Grande, the river enters the deep canyons that continue unabated for the next forty miles. Canyon walls stretching skyward to heights of 1000 feet above the river enclose the river runner in a one way highway. Access to and from the outside is extremely limited. The river is your only way out!
View upstream from the Asa Jones pumphouse.
At a place forty miles from La Linda, the remnants of an attempt to commercialize this land are seen high on the Texas cliff. Over fifty years ago, Asa Jones tried to make a profit from the wild candililla plant the grows throughout the uplands. His wax factory now sits idle, preserved in a near-ready state by the dryness and isolation of the desert. The water tank and the boiling vats only await the time when the engine in the pumphouse begins cranking again to supply water from the river about 300 feet below.
A mile and a half downstream is the dangerous rapid of San Rosendo Creek. Called Hot Springs Rapid because of the large, warm springs that flow from the Mexican river bank below the rapid, this place is an often over-used lay-over spot for river travellers. Hill and his survey used the oasis to recover from the hardships of the desert and the river, just as countless groups have in the years since.
The major geologic feature of the Lower Canyons is found a few miles below Hot Springs. The Bullis Fold is a magnificent drape fold that was formed when the fault block that is the Bullis Range was uplifted. The horizontal layers of limestone lay over the side of the rising block at angle of about 45 degrees and are fully exposed by the river that has cut directly across the rising land mass.
Louis Aulbach (l) and Tom Helzer (r) on the extreme point of Burro
Bluff.
Just as one becomes lulled into the tranquility of the canyons, the river turns abruptly into the stark face of the highest, sheer cliff on the river. Burro Bluff rises nearly 1000 feet from the water.
Another turn of the river and we enter the rock garden of the upper bay at Upper Madison Falls, the most dangerous and difficult rapid on the river!
The water level is low this year, at 1.5 feet on the Boquillas gauge, so it is not difficult to pull in at the mouth of El Tule Canyon. The canoes are lined easily through upper bay rock garden, but we face the decision regarding the main segment of the rapid. We climb out on the rocks that extend out from the Mexican bank to survey the cataract. A side channel to the right is clogged with boulders and is neither runable nor a good prospect for lining the boats. The main channel, on the Texas side, offers the best possibility to line the boats. The third alternative is to portage the boats and the gear over the tough trail on the Mexican side.
At normal water levels, around 4 feet, the Texas channel is a challenging Class III - Class IV run. From a garage-size boulder, we size up the route and begin to line the canoes one by one through a narrow slot between two sofa-size rocks. The pinch between them is just wide enough to maneuver a canoe through the barrier to the pool below. The second drop is minor and we paddle the boats to the final drop. One canoer paddles his boat through the last drop, but the other canoes are lined through a rocky slot close to the island on river right.