Pecos Trip Report-June, 2007
Mark Andrus

On Sunday, June 3, 2007, Jack Richardson and I left Comstock to go to Pandale Crossing. Just before we got there, I had to drive the pickup over a couple of inches of water running over a low water crossing. It was the first time that we had to cross water in that location, so it indicated that we would probably have higher water than usual. It was just going to be the two of us on the trip since the other people we asked had other commitments so they could not come. We took two canoes. Jack brought a Tripper XL for himself and loaned me an Old Town Discovery Scout. The put-on was the usual process of deciding what to put in the canoes and getting some organization to it. Our shuttle driver is in the foreground. We put in at the river bank instead of going to the usual place on the island which was under water.
(putting in at the Pandale Bridge)

We paddled to our usual first night spot, the Ledges, which is about 10 1/2 miles downstream. We often have to push to get there, but we were able to get there by 5PM since we had high water on the trip. The gnats were a problem, but bug spray got rid of most of them. The weather looked nice so we set up our Roll-a-Cots and did not bother with tents. Much later that night, we wished we had set up tents. A thunderstorm came up with very high winds to begin with. If we had set up tents, we would have them blown over unless they had been rocked and tied to plants well. There is almost no dirt to stake a tent along the Pecos River. Both of us gathered up our bedding and headed under an overhang. We had to wait about an hour and a half for the storm to blow over. We were finally able to get back to sleep before daybreak.

We made 20 miles the next day because the water level was good. We were able to go look in Everett Canyon and saw more water coming out of the springs than usual. We went through the Flutes in under 2 hours, because we did not have to get out to push our boats over the Flutes. Jack said the water was the highest he had ever seen the Pecos. I checked the International Boundary Commission web site later and found the water levels converted being in the 800 cfs range for the week but we both guessed it should be higher. We saw debris several feet higher in the trees. I later found the river had briefly been in the over 5,000 cfs range during the day on May 26. It got even higher on Sunday, June 11 after we had been off the river a couple of days.

We did not set up tents that night because we were tired and we thought the rain was gone. Again, it rained late that night. We pulled up our blankets and ignored the rain. We paddled by the house on one side of the river that had a power line running across the river to reach it. Also, they built a road down the canyon walls for access. We wondered how much they had to spend to get power and road access. They ran the power line a long time ago, but now it would probably to cheaper to go off grid with solar, wind and maybe a generator.

We decided that we would go on to Lewis Canyon for the night and layover. We did set up tents since we would at least need the tents for shade during the day. We paddled in long sleeves, long pants, hats and gloves to keep off the glaring sun. It did not rain when we put up tents. Lewis Canyon had water running down the canyon and springs along the bank. We were able to bath in small pools in the area just above the drop off. The water would get warm when the sun shown on the water. Lewis Canyon filled with water

There was a shower where the water dropped over the edge. One spring was to the right of where the water dropped off the canyon. That water was cool and fresh.

(cool pools to bathe in )

I went fishing with a cheap rod and reel I bought. The reel broke, so Jack showed me how to fish using a bottle to hold the line and using a thumb to release the line.
I did not catch anything, but the fish were probably there. We decided to take two layoff days back to back on that Wednesday and Thursday. We took it easy on Wednesday. We explored up the canyon on Thursday.

The whole picture with drop-off and spring

We left Lewis Canyon on Friday morning. Jack wanted to stop at Split Rock at mile 43 to camp. I told Jack that would leave us a hard 17 mile day on Saturday and we would probably have to spend an extra day if we did. We were able to get through Lewis Canyon and Coldwater Canyon without lining because the high water covered most of the rocks. We reaching Split Rock around noon and used it as a lunch spot. We went on.
We lined Hail Mary (Painted Rock Canyon). It took a while to find a good camp spot, but we finally found one around mile 51 after we hit the lake. We did not set up tents, so it rained again late that night.

We were back on the lake at eight the next morning, but the winds still got heavy going out. We reached the boat ramp tired, but Jack said he wanted to turn around and do it again. I had already made plans to head back the next day, so we did not do it again. I stayed in Comstock that night where an even bigger thunderstorm hit the house we were staying in. I ate lunch in Ciudad Acuna on Sunday. A Texas League game (San Antonio Missions-Corpus Christi Hooks) game was going on when I passed though San Antonio, so I watched a few innings of the game. I made it home after midnight.