An article in today’s NY Times discusses the possibility of big floods throughout the West, as cold and snowy Spring conditions have added to snowpacks that have yet to begin their summer melt. This situation may reverse the earlier predictions of a poor run-off in the Rio Grande river. Consulting the “Snotel” info available online, we see the following figures: Upper Rio Grande Basin in NM is 115% of average, and in Colorado is 105% of average. The Rio Chama is at 147% of average.

This may provide the NM rafting scene with a Taos Box season of reasonable length. This season would (presumably) start shortly after it finally gets hot here and in s. Colorado, and could last well into July. The Taos Box needs over 500 cfs to be navigable for commercial raft trips, which it has yet to see. Other white water stretches on the Rio Grande are navigable at lower levels, and are available for the entirety of the summer rafting season. These stretches are the Rio Grande Gorge (aka Lower Gorge) and the very popular Racecourse rapids. As for the Rio Chama, we have been promised weekend releases for the entirety of the summer, and could also see high water during the week.

One can consult the “Weather and River Flows” link on our website Home page for the daily Rio Grande flow.

The new New Wave Rafting.com special white water hat. The perfect hat for white water rafting, with a color scheme that reflects our Southwest heritage. You can mail order our hat for $12 + S/H.

The New Wave Rafting.com special white water hat

Rear side of new New Wave Rafting.com special white water hat

A raft powered by 6 of our Guide Trainees, and captained by Britt Huggins, New Wave Operations Mgr., took 2nd place in the Annual Mothers Day raft race. That was after doing two training runs on the Racecourse already that day! Beers were enjoyed at the Blue Heron Brewery in Rinconada during the awards presentation. Today ends the instructional four-day part of the Guide Training Program. Now comes the practice portion, to be followed by the Final Exam on May 24. We think we have some winners in this group. Photos on the above to follow.

We’ll have 5 soldiers, whose home base is Guam, on the water today in funyaks. They wanted the Box, which is not available yet, and settled for funyaks on the Racecourse. We know that they will have a riotous time! Otherwise, our Guide Training  Program is in it’s 3rd day today. And the Mothers Day raft race starts at 4 PM this afternoon.

As warm temps begin to arrive, so does the river begin to rise! Today the level is 388 cfs (cubic feet per second). We just love more water in the river, along with all the other users, recreational and agricultural. We don’t have quite enough to run the Taos Box yet, but are running the Racecourse and Rio Grande Gorge white water stretches. I took the water temp yesterday evening when I went fishing. It was 59 degrees. Not so chilly, at all, and good for funyaking, as well.

Today also saw the beginning of the first session of New Wave’s 2011 Guide Training Program, with 11 hopefuls paying $150 each for four days of intensive training, followed by two weeks of practice. More about our Guide Training Program can be found in the body of the website, under “What Else>Guide Training Program”. This Program is taught by New Wave guides Britt Huggins and Mike Boren.

On Wednesday, some of those guide trainees to be and returning New Wave guides, attended the River Rendezvous, an annual educational event for river guides. This event was put on by the BLM, our federal regulating body, and the New Mexico River Outfitters Assoc.(NMROA), our local commercial outfitting group. Yours truly, Steve Miller, is the President of that group. Stay tuned for a video of the event, soon to be posted to YouTube and this blog.

And last, but not least, another NMROA sanctioned event is this weekend’s Mothers Day Races, for kayaks, canoes and rafts. This is the official rafting season opener.

A youngster having fun in a funyak

One certain sign of Spring is the blooming of the Claret Cup cactus. Here’s a beautiful specimen I photographed while out fishing the other day. A coordinated Spring event is the arrival of the Audubons Warblers, which are now all over the place. These cacti are seen along all the stretches of the Rio Grande that we travel for our whitewater and float trips

Claret Cup Hedgehog Cactus, Mound variety

The Rio Grande river water level is currently suitable for funyaks. Are you on the athletic side? Swim good? Want some additional action? Ask for a funyak (at no additional cost).

Funyaking on the Racecourse white water stretch of the Rio Grande river

What kind of business? White water rafting, of course! The air temps are now in the 70s, and the water temperature is 60 degrees. Come on out!

Open for business at our New Wave headquarters.

We chose to spend $13,000 on a great van, instead of insuring our bus fleet for $11,000. If an $11,000 premium doesn’t seem expensive (and excessive) to you, it does to us. The State of New Mexico newly requires us to obtain coverage in the amount of $5,000,000 on buses, hence that outrageous premium. So, for this summer at least, our customers will be riding to and from their Rio Grande river white water raft trips in air-conditioned vans only.

Our new 2006 Ford van

We’re sorry that we don’t have a photo for you, but today was our first otter sighting! Britt Huggins and his crew were able to observe an otter for a good 10 minutes, while in the course of their Racecourse white water trip. Otters were re-introduced to the Rio Grande river a few years ago, and appear to be doing very well. One sometimes also sees beavers, muskrats, herons, eagles, ducks, geese, colorful songbirds and more along this highly scenic stretch of river.