How low is to low? Embudo in July....

Well, when you live at the takeout of the Embudo and it starts raining hard. The excitement starts to build. It has been bone dry down this way since June and everything has dried up good. I figured that If I could guide a raft down the Rio Grande Racecourse run at 250cfs, full of American sized tourists, then I sure as Keck could bounce a kayak down the Embudo at 50cfs. There were some big flash floods yesterday and the Embudo was raging, and I mean raging. So I woke up this morning and sauntered down my driveway for a look. Looked like a perfect mank flow of about 75cfs and the game was on. I called up my buddy Crow and we met up and fired the mank up. It was so manky that we ended up just doing the first canyon and then hiking out. Good times by all were had. While we were bashing our way down, I really was wishing that the Huckin Ducky mank master himself, Joe keck was around. He would have absolutely loved it. But on second thought, it probably was a wee tad to high for him. He probably would have swam in Long Rapid and I would have had to hike back in some other day and retrieve his kayak. You really need to be on it in these flows. Sorry Keck, gotta give ya a hard time now that you live in Texas. Way to rally down this year tons to run the stout. See ya this Spring, closest stuff to San Antonio :) Hope you enjoy the photos. Maybe with all this rain it will come up a lot more and we can mank it again,,,,Beers, Atom....



The night before our mank fest. Full bank to bank Embudo

Due to the rain, we had to hike in from the highway. Crow testing out the backpack.



The awesome putin tree



I wore a drysuit cause the weather felt like Washington. Too Hot!



Hatching Dragonfly, eating it's own husk..



Crow boogie water



Crow just above Long Rapid...



The start of Long Rapid



New tree in play towards the end of Long Rapid. Gonna suck at high water next year...Heads up...



Myself entering the Cheese...



Where is the normal boof?



Submerged in da Cheese....



Same line as high water



Keck would be proud...



Mank Cheese...



One of the 12 broken paddles we encountered on the run....All this from Spring 2010 carnage...



another storm approaches...



Crow at the bottom of the Cheese....



Beautiful creek....



Wondering how I just made it through the carnival mank...



Nice hike out...



Shit, now have to go back in for keck's kayak....



Crow hiking the small creek back to my house. Felt like Mexico....



Home sweet Home!


Thanks to Crow for coming off the couch and bashing rocks with me. I'm Loving the new Jackson Villain. handles the high water creeks as well as the super mank. Awesome kayak. Till next mank session. Beers, Atom...