Rafting the Upper Taos Box

It was just about 14 years ago that I started my rafting career as a guide on the Racecourse section of the Rio Grande. Within a season I was running the Lower Taos Box and later found myself running the Arkansas, Animas and Colorado. Little did I know that someday I would return to the Rio Grande to raft the notorious Upper Taos Box.

Why is this called Hell Hole?

While the Lower Taos Box (commonly called just the Taos Box) is known for its fairly forgiving pool-drop class III and IV rapids, the Upper Taos Box is a sieve filled, boulder choked, class V+ extraviganza. Western Whitewater states that it is 'an extremely hazerdous and rarely-boated stretch of river' and ' Only the most seasoned experts should attempt the Upper Box, and only at low and moderate flows'. Of course, this was exactly the sort of weekend Jeff and I had in mind when we arrived at the Chilflo trail on Friday April 2, 2004 after a rainy, snowy drive from Durango. We figured that the cold would keep away anyone who wasn't already discouraged by the low water, class V rapids and strenuous portages that lay ahead.

We woke early on April 3rd to begin our preperations and by 8 AM we had hiked our raft and gear down the half mile or so trail to the put-in. Once again we were very thankful to Jack over at Jacks Plastic Welding for letting us demo his new Culebra frameless cataraft design, which we paddled R2 style. Unfortunately for Jack we have no photos of us actually running these drops since our hands were pretty full. In any case the river had been dropping the last few days but it looked like there was enough water for us to make the run (on our return we found out the flow had been 600 cfs). Due to circumstances beyond my control this was pretty much the only weekend I could go so 600 was going to have to do.

Dana contemplates NCO Falls

It wasn't long before we reached the first set of class V rapids including Upper Powerline, Long Rapid, Hell Hole and NCO Falls. Being first timers in the Upper Box, we scouted frequently and came up with plans A, B and sometimes C for each rapid. Hell Hole has a particularly nasty looking rock/hole/sieve/keeper that you must avoid. These rapids come one after another and we nearly washed over NCO falls blind. As you can see in the photo, this rapid is really a falls not just in name only! We chose the middle slot since it looked like a nicer landing than that right run. Looking back I feel this rapid was one of the highlights of the trip.

After NCO Falls comes a mile of relative flat water known as the Great Calm. Not to fret, however, we were soon back to class V enjoyment of the mile long Boulder Fan rapid. Immediately following this beauty is the worst looking rapid of the trip known as Big Arsenic. We scouted this baby for quite awhile and concluded that there was not much chance of making it. The portage here is pretty short. Not so for Little Arsenic. After looking at this one for many long minutes we again decided against running the upper portion due to some very ugly sieve potential.

Big Arsenic

The portage of the upper part of Little Arsenic was absolutely brutal and Jeff and I both suffered minor injuries. By the time we reached the lower half of the rapid where the trail comes down we simply did not want to portage any more and decided to go for a must make death ferry to get from the river left to river right around some sieve type rocks. Our strength was fading with the daylight but we made the move, got stuck on a nice rock, hi-sided, and emerged victorious below.

We camped at an old miners cabin that night and lit a fire in the rain. We were both spent and I'm still recovering as I write this. In the morning we floated down and ran the Lower Box. Once again we saw no other boaters on the river - just lots and lots of waterfowl. I taught Jeff how to ro-sham-bo for who got to hitch-hike for the car and who had to wait with the gear and he immediately beat me. Turns out I got the better deal cause I met Jethro and crew who had boated the Lower Box while we were running the Upper. These fine folks gave me food, drink and phone numbers - while poor Jeff had to get four different rides in the back of various pick-up trucks to make it back to the car.

Do I recommend rafting this run? Absolutely not. Would I do it again? You bet! Why do I do it? This run is the most technically demanding whitewater I've ever done - super tight class V moves with class V consequenses - an extreme physical and mental challenge. I suppose I am easily bored and require more and more difficulty to keep my interest. Jeff and I would like to go back with a few more hundred CFS and perhaps a smaller boat (a creek boat would be a good choice). I'd like to run the entire Little Arsenic rapid and maybe have another look at Big Arsenic - but there is no shame in walking this one.

Be safe out there and have fun!

d.a.n.a