Caddis Hatch on the San Juan River - Soaring Eagle Lodge has it Covered.

Caddis swarm on the San Juan River at Soaring Eagle Lodge. 

A swarm of fluttering caddis arose as I pushed aside a brushy tree limb and discovered a long, slow, stretch of the San Juan River before me.

Over by the far bank, telltale rings appear on the surface of the calm water.

There were trout holding in a shallow riffle just a few feet upstream of the deep cover provided by an overhanging Russian olive tree.

I slip into the river in a crouch and slowly make my way out across the wide expanse of open water, laying out line in the air as I gauge the distance.

Tied to the end of my long leader is one of several size-16 elk-hair caddis flies that I had whipped up just that afternoon.

It was the first fly I ever learned to tie and back then, on long summer days, it was the only fly I ever fished.

An Elk Hair Caddis fly.

It was easy to see, floated forever and did the job, time and time again. After all, it’s a bug found in damn near every western stream and a basic staple of most trout diets.

And when they hatch  and mate in huge numbers on rivers like the Arkansas in southern Colorado and the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico,  serious anglers drop everything and head for the river.

But the caddis hatch on the blue ribbon waters of the San Juan River is not what this river is usually renowned for, mostly because it occurs well downstream of the famous public water, where trophy class trout are routinely caught on miniscule, midges.

Soaring Eagle Lodge owner Larry Johnson, however, is out to change that reputation, especially among his clientele who have access to two miles of private water flowing past his riverfront lodge, a place where guests can literally cast out their front doors to rising fish.

Most cabins at Soaring Eagle Lodge front the San Juan River.

And unlike the heavily fished public waters of the San Juan, down here, in the private waters surrounding Johnson’s lodge, one can find that ever elusive solitude that most anglers yearn for.

Here an angler can slip into the tail end of a deep run formed by the convergence of two back channels and cast under the shade of towering cottonwoods.

Downstream, an inviting stretch of water beckons where the side channel rejoins the main.

And further upstream, anglers will come across a deep, wide, pool at the tail of a long riffle where one might expect more trout to be hiding.

And they are, here in the “honey hole,” as it’s known to the Soaring Eagle Lodge’s guests.

An angler enjoys the solitude of fishing the San Juan River at Soaring Eagle Lodge.

But back at the far bank, I let my line fly and watch as it settles well above the feeding fish.

It slowly floats towards them as I mend the line, take up the slack and prepare for a strike.

A snout appears and engulfs the fly. Then the water churns as the trout thrashes about it, realizing it’s been hooked.

The rod leans heavily as I struggle to lead the fish out into the open water, away from her home and kin.

I quickly get the net under her and admire a stout, lengthy, brown trout, patiently waiting as I quickly slip the barbless hook and set her free.

I wait a moment, blowing on my fly, and then I go back for the others, sensing the rush that only dry fly fishing provides.  That triumph of stealth, presentation and the right fly.

Thom Cole of Santa Fe shows off a nice Rainbow trout he caught on a caddis emerger while fishing the private waters at Soaring Eagle Lodge. 

Later while supping on pork medallions, sweet potatoes and braised spinach in the lodge’s cozy dining hall, my guest, fellow journalist and avid fly fisherman, Thom Cole, and I talked enthusiastically about our day here in early June, 2010.

He too was impressed with the privacy, scenic diversity and quality of the fishing to be found on the lower river around the lodge. The excellent accommodations, well-stocked fly shop and superb dining simply made it all that much better.

It is without a doubt, though, that the enjoyable experience of staying at Soaring Eagle Lodge is heightened by the personal attention of its owner, Larry Johnson, and his infectious enthusiasm for fishing.

Sawing at the wheel of his aging Ford Bronco while bouncing down a dirt road, Johnson, 57, tells us more about himself as we take a tour of the lower river.

Larry Johnson, Proprietor of Soaring Eagle Lodge at Navajo Dam, New Mexico.

Born and raised in the rural farm country of New Jersey, Johnson got his start in the hospitality industry at an early age, reared in the family restaurant along the shores of Lake Lakawanna, a popular summer resort outside of New York City.

“I remember stacking bottles in the basement when I was five,” Johnson says. “It was a great place to grow up.”

It was your typical vacation community with a golf course nearby, numerous lakeshore homes and only 50 miles, but a world away, from the bustle of the big city.

Johnson’s father, whose name he carries, Lawrence Wilford Johnson, was an enterprising man who maintained the family’s 350-acre farm and the house built by his father, a Swedish immigrant.

Johnson’s grandfather, Victor, was a tool and die maker in New York City and father of seven kids when he fled to the countryside as an influenza epidemic swept through the city.

Johnson shows off a nice Brown Trout he caught on a Caddis fly on the San Juan River at his lodge.

Johnson says his father was a custom home builder, just like his father before him, but also an entrepreneur.

At any given time, Johnson’s dad ran a family restaurant, tavern, golf course and built numerous gas stations throughout the area while also putting up summer homes on the lake.

His father’s very first real job though was as a mathematician working for IBM on the earliest of computers. The elder Johnson quit that position to join the Merchant Marine at the start of WW II and would later transfer to the Navy where he fought in the Pacific theatre.

“My dad was a savvy guy,” Johnson says with a wink. “A great businessman.”

Johnson is one of five kids. He has a twin sister named Teresa who everyone calls “Candy,” an older sister named Carol Ann, a younger brother named Paul and an older brother, Freddy, who was killed in Vietnam during that war.

“And I’ve also got something like 54 first cousins,” he says with a grin. “The holidays are just great.”

Johnson first learned to fly fish from a neighbor at Lake Lackawanna, a Catholic priest, who owned a nearby farm and installed fish habitat along the section of Lubber Creek that flowed through his property.


Growing up on Lake Lackawanna in the summer of 1959. From the left in the front row is Larry Johnson's twin sister, Candy, Jenny Ripp, Larry Johnson, Peggy Finnegan, and Cathy Ripp. In the rear row from the left is Steve Ripp, Karen Ripp and Carol Finnegan.

“He was the best, he married off everyone in our family, and we weren’t even Catholic,” Johnson says.

The priest, Father John Dericks, taught Johnson how to fish with with a bamboo cane rod and the large #10 spinner and May flies used back East.

Johnson would later go on to fish many of the regions’s better known rivers like the upper Delaware and the Beaverkill while also pulling many a fish from the depths of Lake Lackawanna as a youth.

The family farm was in Byram Township, located four or five miles from the lake and on the stream that fed it, Lubbers Run.  Johnson attended the regional high school, Sparta High.

“I was too little for football but I went out for it and got my ass kicked, same thing with wrestling,” Johnson says of his high school days. “But I made it onto the varsity ski team and that was when the hormones kicked in.”

Girls had replaced fishing as Johnson’s primary form of entertainment and would continue to do so for years to come.

Larry Johnson  and his fianace Leslie Jedrey in Newport Beach, Calif. in 1978.

Johnson graduated high school in 1971 and enrolled at the Nichols College of Business in Dudley, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1975 with degrees in business administration and marketing.

Luckily for him the college went coed during his first year there, otherwise he thought he would have gone crazy.

“It was the kind of school where we actually had to wear a tie to class,” he says. “But at least we had eight, very ugly, but, very popular, girls there.”

After graduation he got a job working at a ski lodge in Vermont until his older sister’s husband, Tom Yerke, who had landed a job with Polaroid in California, could lure him out West.

Yerke asked Johnson to drive his wife and 10-year-old daughter out there.

Johnson jumped on the opportunity as did Johnson’s twin sister, Candy. And with three girls in tow Johnson climbed into Yerke’s brand new Buick La Sabre convertible and headed west.

The road trip turned into an epic two-month adventure with stops in Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, as well as the Dakotas, Mount Rushmore and the Rockies. Along the way they stopped for numerous family visits, which made for a memorable summer vacation.


And when they finally hit the beaches of California, Johnson realized there was no turning back.
“Beaches, blondes, bikinis,” Johnson says wistfully. “No humidity, no bugs, great weather. I rented an apartment with my sister and found a job.”

Johnson’s new gig was in sales for an oxygen equipment manufacturing company. He was their new western regional manager responsible for Hawaii, California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

“I did a lot of traveling and flew into Albuquerque and rented a car on occasion,” he says. “I loved it here. There’s something about the sky, the wide open places, and the long, lonely roads.”

His brother-in-law told him he needed to have at least five years sales experience under his belt before he could think about getting him on board with him at Polaroid, a very successful instant camera company and inventor of polarized products.

“Those were the days of the corporate culture,” Johnson says of Polaroid. “Three-piece suits and solid ties, 46,000 employees worldwide and pensions. You went to a company like that and stayed till you either died or retired. I wanted in.”

An angler fishes the back channels at Soaring Eagle Lodge.

Johnson finally applied and was hired by Polaroid for a sale position out in California where he would meet his first wife.

“Her boss was an aerial photographer, we sold him film and he invited me up to his fishing camp on the Owens River near Bishop. I hadn’t been fishing in years so I went and there she was,” Johnson said. “I thought she was his daughter, but she was so nice that I had to ask her out.”

The two would meet later for drinks at the Red Onion bar in Newport Beach and before long were married.

Johnson then transferred overseas where he would oversee the sales of Polaroid’s polarized products, things like anti-glare high-contrast computer screens, polarized sun visors for Ferrari sports cars and commercial aircraft and even polarized sunglass lenses for manufacturers such as Ray-Ban.

Johnson spent the next 15 years working in Europe, spending time in the Netherlands, Germany and then London.

Part of his job required courting clientele with dinner parties and other perks and it was then that Johnson renewed his love affair with fly fishing.

As part of Polaroid’s sales incentive programs for customers, the company rewarded top clients with outings to exclusive auto and horse racing events or tennis and golf tournaments.

Johnson mans the oars of one of his drift boats during a  float of the lower San Juan River while guest Thom Cole rides in style. 

Johnson added fly fishing trips to the program and ended up taking trips to exotic fishing locales like Iceland, Russia, Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“Some of these trips I did on my own and on others with clients who knew I liked to fish and took me along,” Johnson said.

His most memorable trip was to Iceland where he fished for Atlantic salmon and caught a 41-inch long, 30-pound fish that awed him with an impressive display of leaping and tail walking that rivals anything he’s caught since.

But the party with Polaroid would soon be over, coming on the heels of Johnson’s own realization that the business was doomed by emerging digital technology.

Johnson was on a Tarpon fishing trip in the Florida Keys in 1991 where he met a young doctor and ended up having dinner with him and his family.

At some point the doctor pulled out a digital camera and his daughter began squealing with delight, “let me see, let me see.”

As the doctor began showing off his pictures on the camera’s LCD screen, Johnson realized with dread that Polaroid’s flagship product, the instant camera, was doomed. Within ten years the company was in bankruptcy.

But Johnson, having seen the writing on the wall took full advantage of a lucrative early retirement program offered by the company as it began to downsize. The proceeds of which someday would be used to help bankroll his eventual purchase of the Soaring Eagle Lodge.

Thom Cole shows off one of the many native Brown trout found lurking in the waters surrounding Soaring Eagle Lodge.

Johnson ended up in New Mexico while tending to a family situation involving his mother-in-law who moved to Farmington in the late ‘80s to be near her son, Bill, an audiologist.

Johnson and his wife had been visiting her in New Mexico at least once a year since the mid-1980s and while he was there, Johnson always took off to fish the San Juan River and stay at Abe’s legendary motel and fly shop.

“It felt like my new home water,” he says.

Johnson was back in New Mexico again in 2000 after having left Polaroid and just ended a two-year stint with a venture capital company out of Reno, Nevada.  He was moving his soon to be ex-wife into a house in Farmington when he decided to take some time off and just become another trout bum kicking around on the San Juan.

It wasn’t long though before Ray Johnston at Navajo Dam’s Float and Fish Fly Shop snatched him up and put him to work as a counter clerk. It was while Johnson was tending to Johnston’s business that the Soaring Eagle Lodge came on the market.

Johnson had been mulling over his next business move and was definitely interested so he put together some financing, made an offer and took over the operation on Sept. 11^th, 2001, the day of the deadly attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

“My first day on the job and I had 30 cancellations and ten people stuck here,” Johnsons says. “They ended up staying an extra week. “

Larry Johnson's flyshop carries most everything you'll need except Hodgman hip waders .

Johnson put his sales, marketing and publicity skills to work and has since turned the lodge into a fly-fishing destination resort, the kind of place for those seeking a complete vacation package.

And it has thrived in the last nine years under his and fiance, Lesley Jedrey's, direction.

“It’s because we can take care of everything,” he says. “We provide clean, comfortable lodging, excellent food, great guides and a fabulous location.”

The living room of one of the comfortable cabins at Soaring Eagle Lodge.

Many of Johnson’s clients are busy, out-of-state business men and women who want to make the most of their vacation time while pursuing their favorite sport on the legendary San Juan River.

“And they keep coming back year after year because the San Juan is such a productive fishery,” he says.

And when the summer begins to loom and first reports of caddis begin to trickle in, anglers would be well advised to inquire with Johnson about fishing the lower stretch of river that runs through his property.

For more info including rates, seasons and fishing reports, check out Johnson’s website at http://www.soaringeaglelodge.net/, friend them on Facebook or give them a call at 1-800-866-2719.

Santa Rosa Lake Headed for Dangerously Low Levels But Efforts May Save Some Fish.

Santa Rosa Lake is expected to drop to perilous levels as downstream agricultural irrigators call for their water later this month but this time they hope to leave enough behind to help keep the popular fishery alive.

“We don’t want to see another environmental disaster,” says Dudley Jones, Manager for the Carlsbad Irrigation District (CID) which owns the water impounded at Santa Rosa Lake.

About ten years ago the district found itself in hot water during similar drought conditions after its call for water left another reservoir downstream of Santa Rosa, Sumner Lake, drained dry.

Santa Rosa is the first in line of three reservoirs on the Pecos River that serves the Fort Sumner and Carlsbad Irrigation Districts with Sumner in the middle and Brantley at the end of the line.

Heading east onto the plains on NM104.

Jones says he will ask his board of commissioners at a June 14 meeting to authorize leaving about 9,000 acre feet in Santa Rosa Lake to keep the fishery alive while also providing farmers with just enough water to get by.

“We all have to make sacrifices in these lean years,” he said.

Santa Rosa is currently holding only about 21,000 acre feet or about 8 percent of capacity, due to little or no snowpack runoff this year in the Pecos watershed, says Curtis McFadden of the Army Corps of Engineers which operates the dam at Santa Rosa Lake.

That could conceivably be wiped out and the lake reduced to a trickle in the streambed if the irrigation district takes its usual June allotment of 20,000 acre feet. 

But this year Jones is proposing to limit the district’s demand for irrigation water to help out the fish and wildlife and those who enjoy them.

And on top of that Jones proposes that the district not take delivery of that water until July 5th so people can enjoy the water over the Fourth of July weekend.

Yet, despite those best efforts, the fishery at Santa Rosa Lake is expected to take a big hit when the water is drawn down, one that could takes years to recover from, says Shawn Denny, Southeast Area Fisheries Manager for the state Department of Game and Fish.

“It’ll be significant,” he says.

But based on past experience, when Santa Rosa drops to such levels many fish will flow downstream to Sumner Lake along with the water delivery thus improving fishing there.

Sumner Lake is currently closed to boating because of invasive mussels.

However, Sumner Lake is currently closed to boating due to the discovery of invasive mussels that can spread to other waters on boats.

But Denny notes that Sumner Lake may be one of the best shore fishing lakes in the state and with an expected influx of walleye, bass, catfish and crappie from Santa Rosa, could be the hot spot for bank based anglers here shortly.

Jones says the district is expected to leave about 7,200 of the 11,000 acre feet it has stored in Sumner Lake for the time being. Of that at least 2,500 acre feet will have to remain for a minimum pool to keep the fishery there and an endangered fish population in the Pecos River alive.

Denny says there may be a positive side to the water levels dropping at Santa Rosa in that the lake shoreline will be exposed and new vegetation should sprout. If that vegetation is then re-submerged by water it creates excellent habitat and nutrients for fish to thrive.

Denny notes that Santa Rosa rebounded from similar drought conditions and low lake levels years ago to become an excellent fishery again.

“I’d expect the same here,” he says.

A roadside Descanso on NM 104.

In the meantime everyone seems to be praying for rain and if past years are any indication the state could possibly see an early and wet monsoon season.

In many past La Nina weather seasons which produce abnormally dry winters, the following summer monsoons seasons have produced above normal rainfall, says Daniel Porter of the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“Typically that statement would be fairly accurate,” he noted. “But…”

It seems that the service’s weather forecasts are hedging its bets and isn’t predicting anything this year other than a normal monsoon seasons.

Even that would be welcome relief for farmers in the Carlsbad area, who got a tantalizing trace of rain just this week, the first they’ve seen in over 225 days.

McFadden says an early and wet monsoon season could add anywhere from 12,000 acre feet of water to the lake and that would alleviate a lot of the problem.

Conchas Lake.

If You Go: Santa Rosa Lake State Park is located southeast of Santa Fe on the eastern plains. From Santa Fe take I-25 towards Las Vegas. Head south on either U.S. 285 at Eldorado, State Road 3 at Villanueva or U.S. 84 at Romeroville. All three intersect with I-40 which heads west to Santa Rosa.

The lake can reach up to 3,800 surface acres when full and offers angling for both large and smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie, catfish, perch, sunfish and some trout.

The park offers several campgrounds including developed sites, many with electric, some primitive, a dump station, restrooms with showers, boat ramps, hiking trails and a visitor center and observation tower by the dam.

Nearby Conchas Lake on the Canadian River remains low after years of drought while further east at Ute Lake the water level is good. Both locations offer good fishing, boating and other recreational activities.

A Tucumcari mural.

Editors Note:

6/15/2011

The Carlsbad Irrigation District Board of Directors has voted to leave about 9,000 acre feet of water in Santa Rosa Lake and another 6,200 acre feet in Sumner Lake to help maintain the popular fisheries during the ongoing drought, said District Manager, Dudley Jones.

The water in Santa Rosa Lake is owned by the district as is much of the water in Sumner Lake and could have been drawn down for irrigation purposes but during a June 14 meeting the district’s directors elected instead to leave the water in the lakes to benefit fish and recreational users. 

A large amount of water will still be moved downstream during a planned released after the Fourth of July weekend but dam operators will leave the allotted amount behind to keep the two lakes wet while everyone prays for an early and heavy monsoon season to arrive, Jones says.

Sumner Lake will now be reopened to boats after it had been closed due to invasive mussel contamination. Boats will now have to undergo an inspection and decontamination process before being allowed back on the lake starting Friday, June 17.

Remote Forest Service Cabin Makes for Great Romantic Getaway

Looking for a romantic getaway in the great outdoors after being cooped up all winter?

Then the Forest Service has got just the place for you, a neat little cabin in the woods, tucked in among a vast stand of aspens with a babbling brook and beaver ponds right outside the front door.

And it’s only four hours from Santa Fe, up in the mountains flanking the upper end of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado.

The Brewery Creek Guard Station is one of several remote cabins located within the nearby Rio Grande National Forest that the public can rent for a reasonable fee and enjoy the same scenery some others pay millions to enjoy.

The rustic cabin at Brewery Creek is fully functional and in a great location. 

The Brewery Creek Guard Station is a quaint, two-room, white clapboard cabin with a fire pit and picnic table in the yard, a new outhouse and all the amenities needed to enjoy a comfortable night in the woods.

The cabin features lights, heaters, a full sized stove and refrigerator; all powered by propane as there is no electricity available. The kitchen comes fully stocked with cast iron skillets and other pots and pans as well as plates and cutlery.

A large kitchen table and chairs separates the kitchen area from the living room where one can lounge on a couch or relax in a recliner.

Brewery Creek passes right in front of the cabin and beaver ponds have created good habitat for trout.

The bedroom features three bunk beds with the lower berths suitable for couples. Sleeping bags, pillows and other gear must be packed in.

The cabin is well supplied with board games and other means of old fashioned entertainment including a series of journals in which visitors have written of their experiences while staying at the cabin.

There is no cell phone coverage at the cabin. For more info about the accommodations, check it out at http://www.recreation.gov.

The cabin was built in 1935 for use by the forest ranger who oversaw the Poncha and Bonanza Districts of what was then called the Cochetopa National Forest.

It sits in the shadow of 13,266-foot Antora Peak and is located just across a mountain range from the historic, silver mining town of Bonanza.

The cabin serves as a great base from which to visit the area’s many recreational opportunities including soaks at local hot springs, wildlife viewing on remote back country roads and perhaps a visit to the nearby town of Salida.

Mule deer bedded down for the morning.

Just across one of the Colorado’s easiest mountain passes at 9,000 feet, Salida boasts great fishing and rafting on the Arkansas River and a very cool downtown historic district.

The downtown area features plenty of Victorian era architecture, great shops, taverns and eateries.

There’s also a nice park and boardwalk on the river that makes for great, sightseeing and picnicking too.

And in the surrounding mountain ranges which including many of Colorado’s famous 14,000-foot peaks, visitors will find great hiking, camping, fishing and skiing opportunities.

Aspen groves surrounding the cabin are ablaze with color come fall.

During a recent early spring visit to the area, a forest road leading to a mountain top reservoir on the North Fork of the Arkansas River provided a great drive but it ended just a few miles shy of the local favorite fishing hole due to impassable snow drifts.

Returning to the San Luis Valley, one might want to stop at Villa Grove Trade where the café boasts excellent meals and live music, which can be heard on select Sundays nights. This is also where the key to the cabin can be picked up and dropped off. See their website at http://villagrovetrade.com/for more info.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Shook.

Villa Grove also boasts a liquor store for those in need before making the 15-mile trek up a gravel road to the cabin.

New Mexican visitors to San Luis Valley may find it a familiar and comfortable place in part, perhaps, because of our shared native Indian, Hispanic and Anglo cultural roots.

It is also home to the headwaters of the Rio Grande, whose waters nourish New Mexico, and its many farms produce much of the barley used to brew the popular western beer, Coors.

It is the location of one of the largest, solar-powered, electric power plants in the country and also home to the vast, Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Bordered on the west by the San Juan Mountains and to the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the valley is home to oldest town in the state of Colorado, San Luis, founded by New Mexican settlers from the Taos and Mora areas in 1851.

To the north the valley ends just above the village of Villa Grove and the mountain crossing at Poncha Pass.

Saguache is a fun place to visit in the historic San Luis Valley.

Visitors to the valley from New Mexico typically follow US 285 north through Tres Piedras to the little town of Antonito and then on through the rich, agricultural valley and the college town of Alamosa.

Others might elect to follow N.M. 522 through Taos and Costilla and then head west to the valley from the historic town of Fort Garland on U.S. 160.

The San Luis Valley area boasts several forest service cabins for public use including the Canero Guard Station which was featured in the Santa Fe New Mexican in August 2010 ( http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/For-New-Mexicans--San-Luis-Valley-has-familiar-scenes )

Canero Guard Station.

New Mexico does not have any forest service rental cabins but those who are interested in what’s available nearby can find out more at the U.S. Forest Service’s website at http://www.fs.fed.us/ and look under recreation and reservations.

If You Go: From Santa Fe take U.S. 84/285 through Espanola, Los Ojos and Tres Piedras to Antonito, Colorado. Proceed north on U.S. 285 to Alamosa and then pick up state highway 17 to Villa Grove. Just past town, head west on county road LL56 to Bonanza. Take the turnoff to Forest Road 880 at the bridge and follow to the cabin’s gate.

Lack of Runoff This Year Cramps Rio Grande Rafting Style.

Mike Boren of New Wave Rafting in Embudo makes a point from his seat in the rear of a raft while taking a group of guide trainees down the Rio Grande in May, 2011.

White water thrill seekers will be lucky to see a high water rafting season this year due to below average snowpack and a lack of real runoff.

Complicating matters is the ongoing drought, low soil moisture conditions, warm, windy weather and a storm stingy La Nina pattern.

“It looks like it’ll be poor runoff season for rafting,” says Wayne Sleep of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Albuquerque which monitors snowpack and other water conditions.”The snowpack is melting but it’s just not making it to the streams.”

Sleep attributes the lack of runoff to dry soil conditions which absorbs a lot of runoff and warm windy weather with causes a lot of evaporation. There’s also very little in the way of snowpack, just 16-percent of average, within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to augment what runoff exists in the Rio Grande, he says.

Snowcapped  mountains above Taos, New Mexico during a wet year.

That’s why even though snowpack in the mountains of southern Colorado which feeds the Rio Grande is at about 90-percent of average, runoff, as measured by stream flow in cubic-feet-per-second (CFS) at sites in northern New Mexico, is well below average, he says.

The Rio Grande at the Taos Junction Bridge upstream of Pilar is running at about 500 cfs, about half of what it should be for this time of year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s stream flow charts found at http://www.usgs.gov/.

Complicating the problem up north is a lack of lower elevation snowpack to augment the deeper snows found at higher elevation, says Craig Cotten, Division Engineer for the Colorado Division of Water Resources in Alamosa, Co.

Plus windblown dust is also helping snow melt more rapidly because dirty snow absorbs more sunlight, Cotten says.

“So we’re looking at about 75-percent of average runoff this year,” he added.

And as the Rio Grande flows through the agricultural areas of southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley it is heavily tapped for irrigation.

A San Luis Valley farm.

Under terms of an interstate compact governing use of the Rio Grande more water heads south during wetter years and much less when times are tough, Cotten says.

And that’s why longtime rafting guide, Michael Boren, 55, of Santa Fe is praying for rain up in the San Luis Valley.

The more rain they get, the wetter their fields will be and the more likely they will be to let the water in the Rio Grande pass on through, Boren says.

Veteran rafting guide Mike Boren of Santa Fe.

Boren, a chimney sweep during the winter, a rafting guide during the summer and a former Army Airborne Ranger, says he’d be surprised to even see a season on the Rio Grande’s wildly thrilling Taos Box this year.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” he says.

The box which runs 16 miles from the John Dunn Bridge down to the Taos Junction Bridge above Pilar requires about 750 cfs and above for a really good ride and is a favorite of die hard, whitewater, enthusiasts, Boren says.

But the box can still be a fun run at flows as low as 500 cfs, anything below that and it becomes too rocky to navigate, Boren says.

Cotten of the Colorado Division of Water Resources says whitewater enthusiasts should check the divisions’ website http://www.dwr.state.co.us/Surfacewater/default.aspx and monitor stream flows for the Conejos River at Mogote and the Rio Grande at Del Norte to get an idea of future flows in New Mexico.

As flows climb at these sites one can expect them to come up in two or three days further downstream, Cotten says.

But even if the Taos Box doesn’t see high water this year, the five mile Racecourse section between Pilar and the Taos/Rio Arriba County line will still provide plenty of whitewater thrills even during a mild runoff season, says Steve Miller, president of the New Mexico River Outfitters Association and owner of New Wave Rafting in Embudo.

Funyaks and rafts float the lower section of the Rio Grande in early spring of 2009. 

Miller says rafting companies have over the years adapted to provide highly entertaining trips even at lower flows by using smaller rafts and adding funyaks, inflatable kayaks, for customers to use on the lower section of the river.

And besides many families with kids and older folks aren’t necessarily looking for a hair raising ride like the white knuckle trip the Taos Box provides, he added.

That’s why trips like those that meander through the Orilla Verde recreation Area between the Taos Junction Bridge and Pilar are so popular.

They provide a gentle, relaxing trip downstream during which passengers can enjoy the scenery at a leisurely pace, Miller says.

The Rio Chama should still provide rafters good, weekend, action as water releases from dams on that river are timed to flow downstream on the weekends. The city of Albuquerque announced this week it too would take delivery of its water stored in upstream reservoirs on weekends to accommodate river rafters on the Chama.

So even if the runoff season is mild this year the mighty Rio Grande and scenic Chama should still be flowing and providing visitors plenty of wet and wild fun throughout the summer.

A little white water can be found even on the lower stretch of the Rio Grande during spring runoff.

If You Go: From Santa Re take US 84/285 north to Espanola and then follow Riverside Drive through town. Stay on State Road 68 north towards Taos until reaching Pilar and the Bureau of Land Management’s Rio Grande Gorge Visitor Center. A list of commercial river rafting companies can be found on the BLM’s website at http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/taos/commercial_private.html.

Bandelier Now Even More Spectacular with New Theatre and Film

The road into Frijoles Canyon and the Indian cliff dwellings at Bandelier  National Monument.

 It’s already a magical place that captivates visitors with its mysterious caves, ancient Indian history and soaring cliff walls.

But now Bandelier National Monument is all that much better with the recent addition of a new high tech theatre showcasing a visually stunning film of the monument and its surroundings.

And that’s just another fantastic reason to visit one of New Mexico’s most intriguing Indian cliff dwellings.

Four years in the making, the 14-minute film by award-winning National Park Service cinematographer John Grabowska, features towering, expansive views of Bandelier, the Pajarito Plateau, the Jemez Mountains, the Valle Caldera and the Rio Grande.

The film was shot during different seasons of the year with many scenes taken by helicopter and played back in slow motion to give viewers the sense of flying over the countryside.

In one scene the viewer is treated to a flight just off the deck of the muddy, sun drenched, Rio Grande with a flock of birds leading the way.

In another scene the viewer is taken for a soaring ride up a canyon ablaze with aspens in full fall colors.

Grabowska, who has produced many National Park Service films in his twenty-year career, including two others in New Mexico, says even he was impressed with the overhead views.

“The aerials were a real revelation since I'd driven and hiked all over the region and
thought I knew it pretty well,” Grabowska said by email. “But the bird's eye view revealed just how rugged the Jemez Mountains and Pajarito Plateau really are.”

Other shots employ the use of time lapse photography to convey the passing of a day, with clouds scurrying overhead and shadows shifting to mark the movement of the sun.

Cinematographer John Grabowska and his cameraman film the Valles Caldera.Photo courtesy of NPS. 

And then there’s the wildlife, including shots of the extremely rare Jemez Mountain salamander and Goat Peak pika, both natives of the area and being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

In both cases those conducting research on these animals led Grabowska’s photographers to sites where they could capture images for the film, he said.

But in other cases it was a “tremendous investment of time” and the guidance of Bandelier Ranger and Wildlife Photographer Sally King, which led to the filming of bear, elk, a rattlesnake and tarantula, an owl and Abert’s squirrel and various birds and other wildlife, all of which make for captivating viewing.

Grabowska, who works out of the National Park Service’s media office at Harpers Ferry Center, West Virginia, says he loves coming here to work on projects.

“I love everything about New Mexico -- the cultural diversity, the high desert landscape, the mountains, the rich history, the huge sky, the far horizons -- and the food, especially the food,” he says. “I still remember the first time I had carne adobada, sheer bliss.”

The snack bar at Bandelier whips up a pretty good, green chili, cheeseburger.

Grabowska, a native of South Dakota, says he misses the distant horizons the West has to offer and hopes to return for good some day.

“I've been visiting New Mexico for 25 years. My wife and I honeymooned in the Sangres and we've been coming back ever since,” he says. “I plan to live there some day.”

Grabowska, 50, has also produced the acclaimed film “Remembered Earth” about the peoples, culture and environment of the Four Corners region of New Mexico that is frequently featured on PBS and can been seen and purchased on DVD at the Northwest New Mexico Visitors Center in Grants.

Grabowska’s other New Mexico film, “Breath of Life,” is an interpretation of the cultural clash between the Pueblo Indians and Colonial Spaniards at the Salinas Pueblo Missions. It too has been aired on local PBS stations and can been seen and purchased on DVD at the National Park Service’s visitor center in Mountainair.

The Long House at Bandelier features a towering cliff face of monumental proportions.

The long version of Grabowska’s new film about Bandelier and the surrounding region is destined for showing on PBS later this summer and is entitled ‘Sky Island”.

“The PBS version, to be broadcast in July, is aimed at a national audience, most of whom have not been to Bandelier and know little about it,” Grabowska says. “’Sky Island’ takes a broader view of the Jemez Mountain ecosystem, from the Rio Grande rift up to the Pajarito Plateau, then continuing uphill into the mixed conifer forest and topping out on the peaks. It also addresses anthropogenic climate change directly since the Jemez are the epicenter of dramatic climate change effects in New Mexico.”

The shorter version visitors to Bandelier see on the monument’s new 9-foot tall, 14-foot wide, big screen is entitled “This Place Knows Us.”

The new theatre at Bandelier features a big screen, plenty of seating and a high quality sound system.

“The film in the visitor center is more Bandelier-centric and with a stronger Puebloan emphasis since the viewer will be seeing it right in Frijoles Canyon, surrounded by the canyon walls and the pueblos where the Ancestral Puebloans lived,” Grabowska says.

The visitor center film features narration by Meryl Streep and Dr. Dave Warren from Santa Clara Pueblo, a former director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian who has a personal connection to Bandelier, Grabowska says.

The film also features a scene involving local Zuni pueblo members dancing and singing at the monument.

Longtime monument employee, Chris Judson, says the film dovetails nicely with the new exhibits on display in the museum since recent upgrades to the visitor center.

A painting by the late Pablita Velarde of Santa Clara Pueblo on display in Bandelier's upgraded museum.

Visitors will find excellent examples of local Indian art and pottery, both past and present, interpretive historical displays and other information about the Pueblo Indians who once lived at Bandelier.

This was done in conjunction with the local pueblos affiliated with the monument including Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Cochiti, Kewa (Santo Domingo) San Felipe and Zuni.

All of these pueblos can trace their ancestral lineage to Bandelier and play an important role in the monument’s mission, Judson says.

But perhaps one of the most important changes that came with the recent rehabilitation of the monument’s historic visitor’s center is for mobility impaired guests.

The museum, theatre and restrooms have been upgraded along with other access improvements to allow these visitors to enjoy a great deal more of what the monument has to offer, Judson says.

Alcove House at Bandelier requires a 140-foot climb up four sets of ladders to visit. 

If You Go: From Santa Fe take US 84/285 north to Pojoaque and take the Los Alamos turnoff on State Road 502. Proceed west to the White Rock turnoff on State Road 4 and follow to the Bandelier entrance. Cost is $12 and is good for seven days. Camping is available on the rim above the canyon in developed sites. For more info see Bandelier’s site at http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm.