Wow, what a story! Sounds quite aberrant to me. Then again, river
runners like to summarize a river with the historical worst-case
scenario.
If you've run the Juan (another river I've canoed about 20 times), then
nothing on the Rio Grande will be a problem. The style (drop pool) and
difficulty level are quite similar, with the exception that the RG has
some mandatory portages and the Juan doesn't. And the portage trails
are easy to find and follow. And there are very few powerful eddys like
on some stretches of the Juan.
The water levels on the RG are controlled by two inputs: the Rio Grande
draining out of east New Mexico, and the Rio Conchos draining out of
Mexico. Each of these rivers has a different yearly cycle: the Conchos
traditionally ran high in the fall and winter (from rainfall), and the
RG ran highest in the spring (from snowmelt). However, both rivers are
heavily dam-controlled now, and baseline water levels are more a result
of litigation than climate, as there is a court battle going on between
the US and Mexico about the water levels. The peak levels in the late
summer/fall are from seasonal contributions (rainfall, controlled dam
releases, flash floods). But because of an ongoing drought in northern
Mexico, the baseline water level is quite low. The best canoeing water
is after the flash flood (fall) and before the baseline (summer). So
that leaves the best season from November or so, until it gets too low
in May. I prefer the later part of that window, because it avoids late
season thunderstorms and the possibility of flash floods. With your
wife as twitchy as she sounds about it, I would run it during the
spring (Feb, March) when the water levels are most consistent, the
weather is very nice (highs in the high 80s, low 90s) and the
wildflowers are going nuts. About 4 feet is primo.
Have you seen this website? Its a good resource.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pa...ditions/texas/
The water is completely undrinkable. Its full of farm runoff,
industrial wastes, dead cows and is almost like mud. Bring your water
with you, and plan on refilling at two natural springs along the way
(you will need to pump the spring water, but its clear and won't plug
up the filters). If you swim, keep your mouth and eyes closed.
--riverman