Rio Chama

A few days after finishing a multi-day trip on the wilderness section of the Rio Chama, I couldn’t walk away from the canyon without one more day on the water.
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We put in at Chavez Canyon, just below the Christ in the Desert Monastery, and floated the nine miles to Big Eddy on packrafts at 170 cfs.
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To be clear about what 170 cfs means: the Chama guidebook puts the minimum at 400 cfs, and the BLM’s own guidance suggests 200-300 cfs for small boats on this stretch. We were well south of all of it.
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The river was fluid, but just slow, and often shallow enough for us to clamor for the line that would give us another inch of of depth. Despite that we only got truly hung up once, at a long diagonal shoals about a half mile above Big Eddy, where one of us had to pop the sprayskirt and shuffle through. Everything else went clean.
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The upper miles from Chavez to Skull Bridge were beautiful. The canyon walls run red and ochre as you descend through millions of years of geologic time. Geese and goslings, paired mallards, lots of flycatchers, swallows, and evidence of deer and otter were evident throughout the run. At a higher flow, the paddling would match the scenery. At 170, the scenery carries the day.
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The action concentrates in the stretch from just above Skull Bridge (where the Continental Divide Trail crosses the canyon) down to Big Eddy. If we ran it again at 170, we’d still put in at Chavez for the scenery, but we’d go in knowing the upper half is a float and plan for a longer day with more snacks.
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Or, if we wanted to maximize whitewater, we’d put in just above Skull Bridge and have a shorter, more concentrated day. Putting in at Chama campground instead of Chavez, would shave about a mile off the full run.
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An honest floor of 200 cfs would have made the full run from Chavez a little more enjoyable top to bottom, but I wasn't upset about working a little harder to experience this special place, and we had a great time anyway.

American Whitewater board and staff enjoyed a three-day trip on the Rio Chama, providing an opportunity for in-person meetings along the river and a chance to learn firsthand about issues in the desert Southwest. \
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Flows were low but adequate for skilled boaters on a raft-supported trip, and it was a beautiful float through a very scenic canyon with great camping. The trip was outfitted by Far Flung Adventures, who provided raft support, food, and logistics. We did not encounter any other groups during our journey. \
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On day 1, which was a Thursday, we met at Bodes shortly after 9 a.m. to drop vehicles and load into a bus for the shuttle to the put-in. We began unloading gear at the put-in around 11 a.m. After gearing up and completing our pre-trip talk, we launched by noon. We enjoyed a leisurely pace at flows of approximately 360 cfs, which was adequate for rafts. Along the way, we stopped for lunch before arriving at Chute the Moon Camp around 4:30 p.m., approximately 7.5 miles from the put-in. This was a nice camp with a lower bench for the kitchen and an upper bench that easily accommodated a large group where we held our late afternoon and evening meetings. \
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On day 2 flows were again at around 360 cfs and we were on the water shortly after 10 a.m.. We enjoyed Aragon Rapid in the morning before stopping for lunch at Jurassic Park Camp. The stop also included a hike up Dark Canyon to see the Allosaurus tracks. We arrived at Two Step Camp, approximately 16.5 miles from the put-in, shortly after 3 p.m. The camp featured an upper bench for camping and the kitchen, along with an abundance of trees. These proved useful when a rain storm came through and we had to set up tarps and huddle together for our late afternoon and evening meetings. \
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We awoke on day 3 to find that flows had plummeted overnight to 170 cfs. We held our morning meetings and were on the water by 11 a.m. and made the journey down to Chavez Canyon, our take-out approximately 21.5 miles from the put-in, arriving around 1 p.m. It was the lowest flow some of our guides had ever rafted on the river, but we completed the trip without incident. After loading gear and having lunch, we departed for the drive back to Bodes following about an hour of gear loading.

River trip on the Rio Chama. This was a great level for both canoes and rafts

The upper section put in is on private land and a fee is required. Cooper Ranch Telephone 505 588 7354. This sections is managed as wilderness and a permit is required and a $5 launch fee per person, max of 16 per trip. The lower section along forest service road 151 is a day run no permit required or launch fee.