A Journey Through the Canyons of the Lower Pecos River by Kayak
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- čas přidán 17. 04. 2021
- I started at the famous Highway 90 bridge over the Pecos River and kayaked 5 miles upstream. Along that way I explored side canyons that blew me away in terms of their beauty and wonderful isolation. If you can get through the first mile or so of this journey you will be rewarded with some of the most peaceful and spectacular scenery in Texas. On this day I traveled a total distance of 10.4 miles.
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My dads friend canoed it once a year and ate a goat or two along the way! In about 1979, when the lake was up 30-50’ from where it is now, I put in a little 14’ boat with a 25 HP Evinrude and went as far up the Pecos as the boat would go and waited on the canoe so I could tow him back to the High Bridge. We went way further than you because the water was much deeper back then. It was stunningly beautiful!!! Had to dodge underwater boulders the further we went to go as far as we could. Started camping at the High Bridge in 1968 at four years old when it was still private property and you had to go to a gas station in Comstock and pay for access and get a key to the gate. There were javalina hogs and skunks that would raid your campground at night. We would lay there at night and watch the falling stars. We would set out trotlines and catch 100’s of pounds of catfish using goldfish as bait. We would also bait out a fishing hole with soured corn and rod n reel fish all day with Catfish Charlie or Quanna bait and catch fish all day! We would leave with several large ice chests full of catfish. Would catch an occasional gar. We took a couple of boats all the way up the Rio Grande to Langtry one time and camped in a cave for a week in about 1979, I was 15. It took several hours because our boats were loaded with supplies and we went slow. I have explored many caves with Indian paintings as a small child. I miss those days and heard the lake has been very low for many many years and I bet many places are no longer accessible.
I wanted to go further that day but it was difficult just getting through the mud to river. I may go back again when it gets cooler and try again.
That sounds awesome. What was the cave you camped in like?
Awesome story. I haven't heard of anyone mentioning Quanna bait ever
I remember that stuff
Talk about amazing places to be alive this is other worldly.
Amazing to see no crowds, my kind of place.
I saw zero people.
Love your perspectives and relaxed pace, man. You're like the Texan Bob Ross of outdoors and local history.
That's a heck of a compliment. Thanks a lot. I hope to see you soon.
Enjoyed the video. Been years since I was on the Pecos. I am from East Texas, where I live today.
You have stumbled across the historic piers of the original Railroad crossing of the Pecos River. The first part of the transcontinental route of the Southern Pacific Railroad was on a shelf of the Pecos River Canyon. Construction of the first railroad bridge over the Pecos River took place in 1882 when the Galveston, Harrisburg, & San Antonio Railroad built its tracks over the Pecos River. The lower Pecos River railroad route was abandoned when the high bridge railroad crossing was completed. In WWII, traffic demand required the construction of another. railroad bridge. That is the one we see today.
Thanks for that insight. I would love to have seen what that looked like. When I visit all of these places I find myself wishing I could have seen it 100 years ago during the glory years of the railroad.
@@secretsoftexas6872 Anything you need help on for the history of Texas railroads, let me know and I will try and find out the answer. I especially like researching the component lines of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad.
In the mid-70s my dive buddy and I explored the old 1868 water pumping station for the trains. You probably kayaked right over it. It was in about 30 ft of water just upstream of the High Bridge and on the eastward bank of the old riverbed. Really cool dive. Poor visibility, but we found the old boiler and steam engine with flywheel. Must have been about 8 ft in diameter as I recall.
Also along the canyon wall downstream from the High Bridge on the northward side of Amistad there are openings that look like part of the Panther cave complex. But these were the tunnels dug by laborers for the old narrow gauge railway (apparently Southern route of Southern Pacific - archive.gosanangelo.com/news/amistad-keeps-memories-of-old-rail-line-native-art-ep-439810514-356770241.html). I grew up in west Texas and am really enjoying your discoveries of places I always liked.
@@secretsoftexas6872 vist the Whitehead Museum in Del Rio, next time you are in the Area. They have pictures from back then. The stories my Grandpa's could've told you would have you glued to the table for hours.
The most scenic and peaceful place at the end of the line.
Wild goat at 2:00🐐
You crazy bastard... Love it! Awesome Texas journey!
Thanks for this video. I can't wait to explore this area of Texas. I have saved more of your videos of Texas than any others. thanks for all you do and keep them coming, very informative and helpful 😎
Great video! And, I totally agree with your Davis Mountains National Park opinion. There’s actually aspen trees on Mount Livermore. And even in summer, the peak stays generally in the 60s! What a shame that we don’t allow access to such amazing land. If you haven’t gone, next time you’re out there go to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center just east of Fort Davis. It’s 6.50 to get in and has some beautiful hikes, including Modesta Springs Canyon
wonderfull barren landscape..
Thnxs 4 sharing 🇺🇸
Keep the videos coming! I wait with anticipation for each one, which outdoes the one before!
So happy you made this video. We want to kayak this spot so bad and Devil’s River. That entrance is rough and it’s gone down in the past year. Enjoy you videos so much!!!
Back in the early 90’s I crossed the U.S. 90 high bridge, and caught up with a train along side the road out by Langtry where the tracks and highway run close together. Sure is a sight I won’t soon forget. Thanks for your videos of TEXAS ❤️👍
Thanks for this! I'd never be able to see this if it hadn't been for your adventure!
Absolutely Beautiful So Awesome 👍👏💕we are getting ready to Kayak in Montana next month can’t wait 😛 we will stop in Pecos River as well
Stunning geology. Thanks for doing all the paddling 😆 i enjoyed this trip and at @6:24 that looked like a natural boat house in the rock - you could make a home out of that maybe 👍 👌 👊 😊 🇬🇧
In August of 2003 a small group of us and two NPS rangers canoed/kayaked from a boat access area just south of the Hwy 90 bridge up to the Pecos River High Bridge which was built in 1944 for the Southern Pacific. It replaced the spindly 1892 railroad High Bridge which was just a short distance upstream. (Some of the masonry feet survive.) That building in your video housed a pump station. It had (has) a Fairbanks-Morse pump inside if it's not all silted up. About a half mile or less upstream is a slowly flowing spring which was tapped as a water source for steam locomotives.
On a following day an even smaller group launched from the same access point and headed south to the confluence of the Pecos and Rio Grande. We hooked a right and paddled up the Rio Grande to a point near one of the two railroad tunnels. That's another story!
By the way, the foundation of the first Pecos Bridge built in 1883 for the railroad remains under silt where the Pecos meets the Rio Grande. The iron superstructure is long gone.
As an old geography buff and map junkie, I've known where the Pecos River was for a long time but when I saw the title of your video I opened up Google Earth and followed it's twisty path from "the ruins" down to the Rio Grande. Wow, much more to this "present trickle" than I ever thought, can only imagine what it was like several hundred to a couple thousand yeas ago, hard to imagine what the region was like when the "Pecos" was at flood stage...same with the Rio Grande...The history of the Spanish in the New World is tragic, it would be amazing to view the whole Southwest a thousand years ago when the climate was still more temperate, and the Anasazi (and/or others) were at their peak and hundreds of years before "de Vaca's" account of the extremely poor groups he encountered (It's been awhile since I really studied the Spanish in the Southwest), anyway , I really enjoyed your short video, subscribed and will be "digging deeper"... And by the way, there are so many people "racing to places", they miss what's right under their nose, I'll take the poking along in a kayak over a speed boat any day.
Dig up the USGS topo maps from the 1970s and you will find all the fascinating things that were flooded over when Amistad reservoir was built in the 1960s. My family and I took a drive along that area before the reservoir was filled and although I was a little boy I still remember the ranch houses, etc. that are now at the bottom of the lake. I also got fascinated by the maps and geography of Texas and really enjoy that aspect. Good luck with your hobby!
@@txtigr Thanks for replying Ron, you and I both have seen a lot of change, the rural change has been "obscene word", but the urban has been "tragic" also. I fondly remember and am grateful to have experienced the "old downtowns" before the age of shopping malls and "wall-marts" destroyed them...the song "Downtown" by Petula Clark comes to mind. On the subject of maps, here in Denver at the Federal Center we had one of the two distribution centers for USGS maps in the country, how I would pour over the catalogs trying to decide which maps to spend my limited resources on, now in my old age I can fly over any area in the world on Google Earth and so often be able to drop down on street view or a personal tour on CZcams. What a unexpected joy and treat that has been for this old map junkie and history buff...Cheers my friend.
Absolutely beautiful...thanks for sharing.
The experience left me wanting to go back and explore some more.
Awesome journey
Awesome! 👍😉🇨🇦
Awesome! I had been wanting to kayak exactly in that spot. Thanks for giving me a peek of what lies ahead! And for the history lesson as well. 🤠👍🏼
Going there made me want to go back. It left a burning impression in my mind.
Same here. I’ve been wanting to go there. I’ve been in the area many times in Del Rio up the Devil’s and in Seminole Canyon. You have the most fantastic videos. I look forward to them all the time. Your history lessons are great. Keep them coming. I thought about creating a channel like yours. Then I discovered yours Do you have a patron page?
yeah me too! I pulled over on my way to Big Bend and thought "I'd really like to kayak this!"
Very nice. Enjoyed it very much thanks!
gorgeous scenery!
Really nice video. I remember going there with my dad back in the 60's and 70's. I'd love to make a trip down there again.
I know the Sosa family they're very nice people.😊
Omg! So pretty! And so much history
Would love to go rafting down it someday
You are so lucky to get to travel all over Texas.
Yes, I want to go back soon and explore some more. Maybe this time I'll camp on a sand bar.
2:01/11:52
You have company 🐐 Love your video's ♡
Yes, I couldn't believe how easily they ran along the cliffs. I could hear their noises for a couple of miles.
@@secretsoftexas6872
Hopefully one day I get to visit this amazing place 🦅 after that I want to visit the Devil's River. Every inch of Texas is beautiful. It's a little funny how some people think of Texas. No Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef... don't live here. Haha..🤠
♡ Secret of Texas enjoy your adventures.♡
Awesome friend,incredible places
Enjoying this from Minnesota :) Thank you for providing thsi!
This is awesome 👍. Great place and voice over. Would like to cover this for sure!
Thank you.
Great video Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Stunning river
What a beautiful place...hopefully it's not affected by drought...I've heard of judge Roy bean...my sister lived in east Texas, in a place called Marshall Texas, and it is so different than west texas
Thank you I've been wanting to kayak that spot myself. I also want to take the guided tour to the white Shaman Preserve
It was a little difficult getting started but once you do, it's incredible.
@@secretsoftexas6872 planning to get out that way in the beginning of May and I'm a go ahead and register a tour at the white Shaman Preserve
Awesome paddle! I appreciate it
I've taken the 53 mile trip down the Pecos.. crazy stuff ,, beautiful and dangerous as heck in some spots .. if you have trouble of any kind you are out of luck .. no way out but to paddle .. that last 8 miles to where you got in is brutal !!! Both times the wind was gailing and it was paddle to butt all the way .. I truly thought I would cry before I got through that last 8 miles to the high bridge ... I want to try just going up river some day .
super video my friend👍👍
Did you not notice the little black goat when you were talking about the history of the Pecos?
🚣awesome vids dude. Thanks
I tired a few months ago but the current was too much. Still had fun going down the Pecos.
Was is too much going upstream or downstream toward the Rio Grande? Were you at the hwy 90 bridge?
@@secretsoftexas6872 Tried going upstream but wore me out. I'm headed back up there this Saturday to try again.
Let me know if you want a boat ride in Lake Amistad when you are back in the area. We live near the lake and fish it 3-4 days a week when we are home.
Thanks for the offer. I have some other locations that I want to visit but river and lake conditions made getting there difficult and dangerous by kayak
Be cool to bring a snorkel. Probably got Guadalube bass.
Where did all the water come from ? You can jump across it in some places in NM .
There's a major tributary just north of here that comes out of multiple springs called Independence creek. It helps the quality of the water significantly.
@@secretsoftexas6872 Thanks, I never realized Texas is so besutiful. The Pecos drains the SE rockies, a really small watershed. Alot of it is retained in the ground like the Blue Hole and Bottomless Lakes. Artesia means what it says
Drank water out of mountain springs in Mexico had poops for 1 week
Don't believe I will be going this far to the absolute middle of nowhere just to paddle a short ways to a dead end.
We got amazing things here in Texas Please only Leave Footprints No Trash or Graffiti
Kinda looks like the narrows
What length kayak do you have? It looks like shorter would be better in the tight spots but longer would do better on the open water.
Looks like one of the bridges in the game Red Dead Redemption lol
Big fan
Home
What type of kayak do you use and how much does it weigh?
Was that really the end , what happens if you go further up...maybe it opens up again into another canyon? You could portage it, so we can see more? I'm really wondering what was there now?oh hang where does that cave go?
Just past the railroad bridge is where I turned around to go back. The end of the video is near where I parked. I wanted to show the difficulty of getting in and out of the river there. It was my first time kayaking this river. I did some other scouting around the area the following day, and I'm planning a return trip soon. There are definitely some other interesting things to see.
I hear tale of large catfish.
Where did you put in? sorry maybe i missed the explanation. South of the bridge? is there access or you hiked down w your kayal?
There's a road that takes you down by the river. With water levels in Lake Amistad being down right now and the mud down there, it's a bit difficult getting to the edge of the water. The access is south of the bridge on the east side of the river.
@@secretsoftexas6872 thank you!
How deep is that stretch of river?
Somewhat rough water at the beginning... just the wind or is it the speed of the water over a shallow bottom (rapids)?
At first it was shallow water with mud that you can sink into if you're not careful and a current. You have to be a little creative to get into the river with water levels as they currently are. Pretty quickly it becomes lake water and if you're paddling into a significant headwind you may be paddling into small waves. On this day, once I got past the first mile or so conditions improved significantly and the rest of the trip was very enjoyable.
Im a little slow texting but cool
How deep would you say the river you kayaked on was ?
I'm sure it varies along the route but I think it could be over 20 feet deep over much of this stretch as it is essentially lake water. There were places where I couldn't touch bottom with my paddle.
What is the pacus river?
HOW LONG AGO WAS THIS WHEN DID YOU GO??
a few weeks ago
The property across from semenole canyon state park is for sale . It's the property with the railroad bridge . I think it dead man's canyon ranch . If you want to look it up it explains the history
That would be a pretty sweet property to own.
@@secretsoftexas6872 if I win the lottery I be sure to buy it . It's on lands of texas
$6,570,000 is the asking price for the ranch. Now if I had an oil play come in...
@@kentcourtney5535 there's a ranch in fort davis county that's over 100000 ac and bottom 34000 ac is where poncho villa stayed and fought before ww1 . Be a cool place to explore
@@kentcourtney5535 How many acres is it?
No gator ?
There shouldn't be any in this part of Texas. Most are in the greener and flat portions of the state.
how do i find this place?
Where is this located at where you went in?
A little side road just east of the Hwy 90 bridge
@@secretsoftexas6872 down by del Rio then?
no one for miles
What animal was that at 2:00?
Goat
you got your paddles upside down ....
never mind , that does look amazing