Nate O Taylor

Food, Fishing, and Outdoor Adventures

The San Juan

June 6, 2022 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

From the headwaters near Pagosa Springs it cuts its way through limestone and sandstone until it reaches the leftover sludge of Lake Powell. Boasting one of the largest gradients of any river in the United States (8ft/mile), it was this velocity and erosive power that helped the San Juan River carve one of the most famous entrenched meanders on earth, The Goosenecks. Few entrenched meanders are not only as tightly bound, but also as deep as the ones carved by the San Juan as the Laramide Orogeny lifted the ancestral headwaters of the San Juan. This event gave the San Juan velocity and gradient, allowing it to carve the deep canyons that had been established prior to the mountain building event.

Honaker Trail
Honaker Trail

All that being said the river now runs into what was formerly a full pool at Lake Powell. Which creates some sediment/sand bar issues, as well as some slow moving water so the more you have, the better your life will be.

Before any of that, we begin in Mexican Hat Utah. A bustling metropolis that is centered around a 7-11. Across the street you will find the boat ramp, a place to leave your vehicle for shuttle, a hotel, and the Swinging Steak. Most of these places are family operations and have been for years. There also is most likely meth.

Swinging Steak
Hotel
The Launch
Launch Time
Mexican Hat Bridge

This water is notoriously turbid (read dirty). I learned they say, “too thin to plow, too thick to drink”. Bring your own water. When you’re on the water, you’ll find a few things.

Cactus Flower
Peak Athleticism
Figured it Out
Hauling Firewood
Mendenhall Cabin
Mendenhall Chiminea
Wild Animals

The food game is critical. Taking it up a notch involved making ice cream not once, but twice. Including the second time on day 4.

Spaghetti & Meatballs
Prep Time
Ribs & Stuff
Nightly Charcuterie Board
Berry Cobbler
Root Beer Floats
Peanut Noodle Stir Fry

Much of the upper reaches of the Juan through the Goosenecks lend itself to rapid river travel. The Honaker trail allows you to hike out of the river corridor and get up on top of the canyon which otherwise constrains you to within its walls. The geology itself is also very unique, lots of limestone and rock formations in the upper section that I hadn’t seen before.

Rocks with…?
Rocks with Fossils?
Research

So before we take this journey through the mud flats, it is also important to note the size of all the side canyons and what some of the flash floods that run through this area must be like. Telling you, biggest I’ve ever seen with huge streaks of mineral deposits that are indicative of…enormous flash floods. Also scorpions, probably Black Hairy Scorpion’s but I’ll leave that to your google search.

Side Canyon
Scorpions
Massive
San Juan Rapid

There was the rapid pictured above, which deserves the mention it just received. More importantly however, is the slug from Steer Gulch to Clay Hills. The river actually stops moving about 400 yards downstream of Steer Gulch. It is also exactly 1″ deep in random places. Prepare your mind, this is your reality for the next 1.5 days.

Departure to the Flats
Deep Water Channel
Push…
We Made It!

Hey, at least there was enough water we could float the rafts onto the ramp. Pretty neat area, and floating into what used to be the upper reaches of Lake Powell is surreal. 7/10, recommend.

Filed Under: Spring Tagged With: Lake Powell, Multi Day, Overnight, Rafting, Rocks, San Juan River, Scorpions

The Season of Three Permits: Trip 1

May 30, 2021 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

This year has proven to be one most fortunate for me. Having not drawn a permit yet again I was fortunate to be invited on three. The first of which was the Rio Chama in late May. The drive was beautiful as the landscape transitioned from high desert, to the Conejos Canyon, over Cumbres Pass and finally into Chama New Mexico.

Conejos Canyon on the way to Chama New Mexico
Conejos Canyon

The Chama is nestled in a green valley of sedimentary rock, with thick stands of Ponderosa, Douglas-Fir, Cottonwood and many others. The divorcee who runs the lodge at the put in (his ex-wife runs the campground) was nice, albeit seemingly cognitively limited by what one would imagine was a lifetime of alcoholism.

  • Suspension Bridge at the Campground
  • Cooper’s El Vado Ranch
  • Put in for Rio Chama

The rain began at 5 am on our launch day. I know this because I was sleeping uncovered on the ground next to the boat. The rain didn’t stop for over 12 hours. While there are plenty of campsites and you are not limited by a number of days on the permit we moved quickly in order to reach Chama Wall.

Rain at the Put In
Rain All Day on the Chama
Hot Springs near Rio Nurtrias
Hot Springs on Rio Chama

Chama Wall was advertised as one of the best campsites along the wilderness section of river. The sandstone cliff opposite the river towered over our campsite. The sunsets in the evening brought all the colors of the sandstone out of the massive canyon face.

View from Chama Wall campsite
Chama Wall
Chama Wall from Kitchen

This campsite is fantastic. You could sleep 15+ people here as there are plenty of campsites both close to the water and then on the terrace above the main landing area. This was the first time I had brought the “cowboy wok” on a river trip. Being as they are made by a veteran in Albuquerque it was only fitting to break it in on a New Mexico river trip.

Boat parking for Chama Wall campsite
Landing for Chama Wall
  • Forgot the Blaster!
  • Chicken for Pad Thai
  • Mussels for Apps

We took a layover day, and with it, the opportunity to fish Salmonflies & Caddis.

  • Lawn Games
  • Finally the Sun
  • Salmonflies

Not far after Chama Wall the canyon gave way to the desert. The gradient slowed and from the river you got a great view of The Monastery of Christ in the Desert.

Monastery of Christ in the Desert
Tending to the Fields

As a final note, I’d like to thank the state of New Mexico for installing bollards in the middle of a quarter million dollar boat ramp so it is un-useable. What we needed was a good two hours of de-rigging before the drive home.

Thanks for the Bollards

Filed Under: Spring Tagged With: Multi Day, Permit, Rafting, Rio Chama

Mayflies and Cervical Disarticulation

April 26, 2017 by n.taylor Leave a Comment

Some big mayflies running amok on the Colorado these past few weeks, large in size and plentiful in numbers.

Large Mayflies

 

Streamers

Mayflies

More Streamer

Even had someone try out the bait-caster off the raft for fun. Much to my surprise it was incredibly effective when it wasn’t free spooling line into the bottom of the boat.

Plastic Baits & Such

More Plastic

Aside from the fish we found this putrid animal sample in the river. Based upon forensic data we determined it fell victim to the railroad sometime around November of 2016.

Cervical Disarticulation

Fishing has been good, best hatches I’ve seen in years for April. Get some while you can.

Filed Under: Spring Tagged With: Colorado River, Floating, Gracie, Mayflies, Stacey, surgical

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