The Says Phoebe is a flycatcher, related to the more well-known Kingbird. They will nest on houses and the like. This year a nest was put on the underside of one of our storage trailers, and 5 nestlings were fledged. Here they are, sitting on our fence.

5 Says Phoebe youngsters on our fence, with a large-leaved catalpa tree behind

The flowering we most look forward to in this high-desert neck of the woods is the cholla cactus, with its red-violet flowers. Close to riverside is the aptly-named Showy Milkweed. It is showy and has a subtle, but fabulous, smell.

Looking down at the Racecourse section of the Rio Grande river, with a cholla cactus in full bloom

A large group of showy milkweed, along the Orilla Verde section of the Rio Grande river

Q: Why is milkweed called that?

A: If you break a stem, a milky-white fluid is exuded.

We ran our final Taos Box trip of the 2010 season on 6/23, as the water level in the Rio Grande had, by that time, dropped to 500 cfs. Below that level the Box is just too hard to negotiate. We will,of course, be offering all of our other trips for the remainder of the season, which ends on August 29. Being less steep and rocky, our other trips remain do-able at any level. With the lowered water level, the river water has warmed up (over 65 degrees), and we are bringing out our funyak fleet, which will add considerably to the excitement that can be had on the river.

Some of you know that we had a pretty good snowpack going, which normally would give us a Box season that would extend into July. What happened? We had a very windy Spring, and strong sustained winds cause the snowpack to evaporate directly off the surface. It’s called sublimation. We also had a period of early snowmelt, in April, when the river was running over 1000 cfs for quite a while. But we had very little Box (or any) business at that time. We would like to encourage you to consider doing the Box earlier in the year. Of course, it might snow on you, but so what – we give you wetsuits, after all!!!

So now, the Box returns to a quiet and remote locale, populated by the critters only. The Bighorn sheep will no longer have boats passing by to relieve the monotony of munching riverside grass all day …

Rio Grande Gorge High Bridge, which spans the Taos Box section of the Rio Grande river. And guide Neil O. Photo by Steve Miller

We have added a handsome deck to our visitor reception area and put up a new sign that makes it much easier to spot us from Hwy 68. The deck was mostly built by guide Ben Rainchild, with help from Operations Manager Britt Huggins and guide Jesse Mogler. The sign was done by Creative Edge, in Taos.

Our new deck and "Open" sign.

We've planted a grape and clematis vine that we'll train up to the trellises

Here's a view of our headquarters

Our new sign, more visible to drivers passing by on Hwy 68. We're at Mile 21.

New Wave Rafting Co. enjoys an enviable riverside location. Our picnic area is shaded by colossal cottonwood trees, and bordered by willows. Songbirds serenade us from the branches above, while the mighty Rio Grande rolls on by. You couldn’t ask for a nicer spot to eat a hearty chuckwagon lunch, which included barbecued steak, baked potatoes, cole slaw, beans, biscuits, and peach cobbler. The cobbler and other items were cooked in dutch ovens, over charcoal. The lunch was catered by Hawkins Chuckwagon, of Santa Fe, and was part of an outing arranged by our partners, Santa Fe Mountain Adventures. After lunch, the 28 guests floated through the Orilla Verde Recreation Area with New Wave. The weather was perfect, of course.

Carl Hawkins converses with guests

Peach cobbler baked in a dutch oven

Carl Hawkins, biscuit in hand, and his chuckwagon lunch

Claretcup cactus

The white-flowered shafts of the yucca are now brightening the hillsides along the Rio Grande river. The claret cup cactus are winding down, but next are the prickly pear and cholla.

Blooming yucca

Close-up of blooming yucca

Penstemon blooms alongside the yuccas

I hadn’t been on the Box for a while. All the usual excuses, you know … too busy in the office etc. etc. So, the time had come, and I joined our NWR trip, to row my own boat and take pictures. Here’s one shot, and you can see the rest on the Taos Box page of the website.

Here's a happy crew, in Ski Jump rapid. The guide whose head is cut off is Britt Huggins, NWR Operations Manager

Yellow warbler, photographed at the New Wave Rafting Co. headquarters, on the Rio Grande river, near Taos, New Mexico

Flocks of songbirds are migrating up the Rio Grande corridor in numbers we’ve never seen before. We have yellow warblers, yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warblers and Western Tanagers around right now. It’s a birders’ delight!

The Racecourse rapids on the Rio Grande river got their name because, starting some decades back,  annual raft, kayak and canoe races were held every Mothers Day on this stretch. The races were always very well attended and much looked forward to, and would usually attract boaters from out of state as well as locals. But, alas, the boating club that organized the races finally gave them up. So, in the interest of reviving this event, the New Mexico River Outfitters Association (NMROA) this year sponsored a guides raft race. 15 rafts were entered, with a winning time of 38 minutes. A party followed, and everyone got a big kick out of the event. NMROA is so encouraged by the turn-out that we are planning for a bigger event next year.

The New Wave raft charges through Sleeping Beauty rapid

The winning raft arrives at the County Line take-out and race finish

The New Wave crew, with, left to right, guide trainee Ben Rainchild, guide Orlando Torres, guide Jesse Mogler and guide trainee James Shinas

We were on the way to the Taos Box put-in, north of Taos, when I saw a car flashing its headlights at us, from behind. I pulled over, and a friend and river guide by the name of Antonio walked up and told me that we had completely lost one of our trailer tires! He stuck around and helped us change the bare rim for our spare. The weather in Taos today was threatening, with fresh snow right down close to town. It was a tad warmer down at the river, but still brisk. The trip consisted of two guests and a training  crew. Returning guides Shane Atkinson and Jesse Mogler were going to share a center-mount oar raft, with trainee Ben Rainchild paddling along with our guests. The paddle boat was captained by NWR Operations Manager Britt Huggins. Needless to say, everyone was bundled up!

How many raft guides (and guests) does it take to change a tire?

Photographed from John Dunn bridge, at the put-in for the Taos Box run on the Rio Grande river of northern New Mexico