Lower Taos Box

[PhillyBoop]

Have a group going down next week. Was wondering if anyone has been on LTB/Pilar at 2000 +. Trying to decide what boats to take (little play boat, med play boat, river runner/creeker). Any feedback would be great. I have never been down there. Thanks, Jamie. OT - can you buy temp fishing lic. in Taos?

[badkins]

The issue with LTB is that you have to paddle 11 miles of flatwater to get to the whitewater, your primary consideration for that run should be comfort. Pilar is roadside so for that one bring your masochistic play machine. Go to newmexicoh2o.com and Atom may tell you where the shorcut is to hike into the lower box and skip the flatwater, sounds like a class V descent into the canyon though...

[mvhyde]

LTB @ 2000+ CFS is going to be a little more pushy in Powerline, I don't think a playboat would be the boat of choice. The consequences won't matter much until you hit Pinball. That could get dicy at the current flow level. I ran a playboat down it last year at 1,200 and pinball was hole to hole running from right to left and back to center, if I remember right, a couple of those holes were grabby. I think a medium playbaot/river runner might be more in order given the conditions and distance (especially with the flatwater going into the meat. Comfort is huge. When we ran it, it was cold and miserable in the canyon and windy and rainy. Hopefully that won't be the case next week.

Watch out for the tongue wave lower right on Powerline, it can send you airborne, however...the consequences there are minimal, just roll up and act like that was what you had intended on doing. SYOTR down there next weekend, there's a bunch of us heaing that way from Durango for the CWWA trip.

MH