Louis Aulbach led a group of hearty paddlers on this exquisite section of the Rio Grande river in late February, 2009. Participants included John Rich, Dana Enos, Ken Anderson, Steve Beach, Donna Grimes, Terry and Kathleen Burgess from Comstock, Skip Johnson, Chuck Leinweber from Harper and Linda Gorski.

The Great Unknown, called the Despoblado by early explorers, is a remote portion of the river that runs approximately 76 miles  from Santa Elena Canyon to Rio Grande Village. Mike Long at Desert Sports ran the shuttle. The price was $242 to pick up the drivers at Rio Grande Village and return them to the put in at Blue Creek. The prices are subject to change.

In the past, the put in for this section of the Rio Grande was at the Santa Elena access near Terlingua Creek.  However, the floods in September and October of 2008 rearranged the gravel bar at the put in and made it especially difficult for a large group. Mike Long at Desert Sports in Terlingua, who ran the shuttle for this trip, suggested we put in at the Blue Creek Access, a recently reopened put in off Ross Maxwell Drive between Castolon and the Santa Elena Access. This turned out to be an excellent put in with good parking off the main road, a ramp to gravel bar (you could not drive down to the gravel bar as the access was too sandy) and a good large gravel bar for loading boats. Using this put in cut approximately five river miles off first day which is a plus since camping is prohibited between Santa Elena and Castolon.

Even though water was low, we averaged 2 ½ miles per hour until last day, but that's another story. The river was running 145 cfs on the Presidio gauge, the only reliable gauge since floods in the fall. The first day is a abbreviated paddle because the shuttle requires three hours, however, we were able to make the first night camp at mile 14 ½.  A small gravel beach provided a landing for our canoes while a grassy terrace was a nice place for our tents. Little did we realize that this would be the best campsite of the trip.

On the second day, we pulled in at Black Dike, a geologic feature that protrudes into the river.  The park has a backcountry campsite there. An archeological survey team from Sul Ross University was camped at Black Dike to continue a large scale survey of that area of the Big Bend. We also noted that the large stone circle which archeologists have identified as a winnowing circle had been washed out by the flooding of the previous months.

Our second day on the river was a long day of about 17 miles. Late in the day, after searching for a suitable site for a long time, we found a large gravel bar. The river had cut across a bend and cleared all of the brush from the bar opposite the park's Loop Camp. It was nearing sundown, so we fixed dinner quickly in the fading daylight. All rested well that night.

Since we had made so  much mileage the previous day, we took the opportunity to have a short paddle on the third day. That was fortunate because the temperature that day had rapidly climbed to over 90 degrees by noon. Shortly after lunch, we found a small gravel bar in the bend of the river on which to make camp. There was a secondary river terrace that had some small patches of grass, but a few of us chose to place out tents in sandy places on the gravel bar. The first thing to go up, however, was a tarp. The sun was brutal and the only way to get shade was to erect some man made shade.

Due to the flood waters in late 2008, most of the gravel bars have been completely scoured of  cane, trees and tamarisk revealing  plenty of great places to camp. The flood caused a change in the channel at the point of the Paseo de Chisos near Woodson's. The main channel was cut off so that the older channel dried out and most of the water went off to the left. Two of our paddlers took the old channel and had to drag their boats several hundred yards before returning to the main channel.

In addition to six days of great paddling, we were able to take some interesting hikes. The group tried to get out at Johnson's Ranch but brush was too thick - the floods did not wash brush from that area. The Pettit's site can be accessed from the rock ledge  below a large bluff just past Woodson's. At this site there are ruins of a homesite include a large rock house on the bluff and two other smaller houses on the flood plain. Previously there were several old rusted cars but now there is only one at the site.

The most difficult rapid on this section of the river, the Tight Squeeze in Mariscal Canyon, was a real challenge at this level. The water, although low, created a very strong pushing action over a large boulder ahead of the slot to the right and into the undercut boulders on river right. Except for Donna and Louis who ran it, most of the paddlers had to be shoved out of the eddy above the slot and paddle really hard to get their boats through the slot.  In several instances the force of the water just shoved the paddlers back into the eddy. A few of us (including Linda) received several shoves before making it through the slot. This was extraordinary because normally there is enough flow that the water flows right through the Tight Squeeze and it's simply a matter of lining up and going through.

Our fourth camp was at the cross canyons in the middle of Mariscal Canyon. The site is only a mile or so down from the Tight Squeeze and it was a welcome treat to make another early camp. We scattered our tents on the large area on the Texas shore. Some of us went high on the grassy slopes while others found small patches of sand among the gravel and ledges closer to the water. The kitchens were set up on the gravel near the boats. The shade from the canyon walls was a welcome relief from the glaring sun which again drove the temperatures on this "winter" day into the 90's.

The fifth day was again a pleasant day of paddling. The sun was very bright and we ate lunch below the Solis Ranch on a sand bar in the slight shade offered by the spindliest bush imaginable. San Vicente Canyon was short, but beautiful. As we exited the canyon and passed the site of Compton's where a small rapid made things exciting (though not dangerous), the search for a final night's camp began. By this time, the scoured beaches ceased to exist and we soon found ourselves floating close to the San Vicente Crossing where camping is prohibited. At the last moment, a slim, but long sand bar along the brush on the Texas side appeared in a slight curve in the river. This would be the place for our last night on the Rio Grande.

By early morning, the wind could be felt whipping our tents. Four the previous five days, the weather, although a bit warm at times, had been relatively calm and nearly ideal. This last morning, things changed. After a hurried breakfast, everyone was eager to pack up and get under way before the deteriorating weather conditions. Skip and Chuck set out about 7:30 am since they wanted to get an early start home. Terry and Kathleen pushed off shortly thereafter in hopes of paddling their kayaks out of the winds that were increasing. The rest of us set out from camp at 8:30 in the full fury of high winds and blowing sand. The wind was blowing directly into our faces, but with only nine miles remaining, we pressed ahead.

Nine hours later, the main party began to trickle into Rio Grande Village. By 5:00 pm, all of the Great Unknown paddlers had reached the destination. All were weather beaten, sand blasted and wind blown. The persistent wind of 40 to 60 miles per hour (with some gusts reported at the ranger station near 100) made the last day on the river less than leisurely. But, each paddler showed a determination and a perseverance during this tough part of wilderness paddling that becomes the tales of legend. We did it! And, we hope, never again.

But, who knows what the wild and scenic river has in store for you?!