Sonora

 Unknowingly at the time, Andrew and i took a weekend gettting some sonoran boating in early this spring. Besides the lower salt (which i hav done a few times, most recently in midsummer amid thousands of others) there is not traditionally much boating that is considered good in the area; it is the desert afterall and desert doesnt typically mix with water. Nonetheless, my worktrip happened to coincide with some winter rains which meant at least a few options were possible. A few possibilities had been suggested among a small group for a late winter weekend, but neither Andrew nor I had held a paddle for at least a few months, since our thanksgiving San Juan trip which hardly counted as whitewater. Rather than entering into excessively risky terrain or trying a lesser known section, we optend to hit the Verde.

The verde does have many miles of paddling that consistently flow yearround, as there are springs that contribute water consistently and has been a go-to for us when we want to get on something easy without the hoards that are on the lower salt. This time we went from Tapco to past Tuzigot (we originally had intended to take out at Riverfront park in cottonwood but were having a good time so we went all the way to the 89A bridge).

Tapco Put in

The upper bit is a popular day run and is well kept by some local outfitters. Even at 65 CFS, which leads to some extreme pool-drop-y-ness, it goes clean and the water is crystal clear which makes for great fishing, obviously the primary use of this stretch. For the most part the pools are long and the rapids are more like short slides (that can be quite narrow sometimes) through trees between pools. After the Tuzigot take out, the river does pass through an old dam diversion site that is no longer functional. This one spot was by far the hardest rapid in the stretch, a ledgy double drop that was fairly steep. At such low flows you just kind of slide dow, but i can imagine at higher flows this might have some interesting hydraulics. Shortly thereafter the trees started to encroach. It started with one log, then another... then, huge jumbled messes of downed trees across the river. With some effort we got through, and as more water returned to the channel/joined from riverside springs, the channel got a bit wider. Close to the take out (with a river that was now very much a CL1 run) things started to become more constent. It is probably worth linking this to the other common section downstream that ends at Beasely, if for no other reason than to be able to see the confluence of oak creek. 

The easy run was of course in anticipation of something more. A few options had been thrown out: Oak creek (turned down for now due to potential wood hazard...), Buro Creek (turned down because we just missed the tail end of the flow pulse), and a section of Tonto Creek, which we eventually settled on. It was low but runable, and for whatever reason was off my radar because i was more aware of the class 5 sections upstream. But a winner we had found!

Rye Creek, i dont know if you can call it floating with much less water

Tonto is a true gem. A reasonable self shuttle (i ran it in an hour and a half or so), and plenty of action to consistently keep things interesting. Plus, how often do you get to float free flowing whitewater in the Sonoran desert?? The day trip starts just out of Jakes Corner at the bridge over Rye creek. THIS creek now officially takes the record of lowest volume water i have ever paddled and i dont know i can go much lower. We thought that the verde at 65CFS was low... Rye was probably at 20 or less, but was JUST passable with a little bit of scraping. It is a short bit that starts in a wide box canyon, and before too long Rye creek hits bedrock resulting in some rapids and water slides. Right at the confluence you have to get out to go over a barbed wire fence, all in all a short half mile or so, which leads you right into the action on the Tonto! The creek needs to be in somewhat of a flood stage to be boatable, so expect water in the bushes and currents to be strong. It is pretty consistently pool and drop with plenty of bedrock features and the occasional wall shot, most of which go at 2+ until you get to "the gauntlet". Here the creek hits bedrock and is funneled into a narrow channel with a drop at the entrance. At 450 CFS this was pretty straight forward, maybe on the low end of CL3, but i could see this being much harder at higher water. We stoped here to set up a safety and run through the rapid one by one. Andrew and i even decided to swim it to practice defensive swimming and rescue throw techniques because the outflow was clean. During lunch, we had the pleasure of watching another group run through it and somehow two of the three flipped in the small hole dropping into the gauntlet; we got to help play clean up. After this there was a short but excellent section of basalt narrows with some very fun rapids, plus a nice side hike to a water fall before the run ended all to quickly as Tonto flows out into the floodplain of the tonto basin, on its way to the slackwater in Roosevelt lake. 

Eddied out just downstream of the first drop on the Tonto

Gorge goodness

It was an excellent run, i would definitely go back and do it again, and turned out to be the perfect warm up for the Salt River Wilderness run we did a few weeks later, which was a similar style but a bit harder.  

Looking downstream towards the Tonto exit

NZland

 This summer, after so many years of wanting to make it down to the land that inspired the Lord of the Rings films to be created, Lindsay and i made the trip down south. For me, this was an inevitibility just like arctic Alaska; New Zealand was a place i had never been to but i knew it was a place that, once i visited, i would not be able to leave easily and i would long to return to, and I think for Lindsay it was the same. Its been more than month since we got on a plane to leave, Bali bound at the time, and we both cant help but think, almost daily, about picking up and moving South. 

The trip was a bit of a whirlwind, we had 2 weeks to travel both islands. Not nearly enough time, however i dont know that i would ever have enough time to go everywhere and do everthing i wanted to. 

A lonely beach at sunrise

We did get to experience a few wild slivers of New Zealand, though.

On a solo mission that Lindsay graciously volunteered to shuttle for, I got to run the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, supposedly one of the best treks in the world, or so the signs said. The signs also were adamant that I was doing the route backwards, but that's ok. An hour before dawn (which is nice and late in midwinter at 830 or so) I set off from the northern trailhead, off into the dark forest that immediately made me think I was more in Jurassic Park than Lord of the Rings; I was constantly looking back over my shoulder to make sure there wasn't a velocirapter hot on my tail. Luckily, the islands have no large natural predators and I had nothing to fear. 

Sunrise Looking north over the High Lakes region just north of Tongariro National Park, North Island

At dawn I emerged from the thick primordial forest into the alpine. The alpine zone in New Zealand, though, starts at like 2-3.5k feet above sea level, a bit of an oddity for me coming from the States where we have conifers that can better withstand the weather (fun fact, NZ doesn't have any native alpine zone pine/conifer trees outside of a juniper and a cedar). Looking uphill, I had a few thousand feet of climbing where I would gradually leave the tundra behind for raw volcanic rock. Looking off in the distance, however, there was a seemingly endless series of smaller forested mountains and lakes I was rising above. On the ascent, I passed some bathrooms, clearly a testament to how popular the route is, as they would have to be serviced by helicopter. The route itself is largely manufactured, in that it has a graded and stabilized surface, very unlike the rocky terrain we frequent here in Utah. Apparently at one time there was a mountain hut on my ascent, about an hour and a half out from the parking lot, but during an eruption in 2012 it was taken out by some flying debris, wild. Before long I had entered the true alpine zone, devoid of vegetation and covered lightly in snow. In the alpine zone there are a few beautiful lakes, some active hot springs and fumaroles, and a lot of loose volcanic sand, and views seemingly to the end of the earth (at least, to the end of the north Island, I could see other volcanoes off in the distance). 

Emerald Pools and Fumaroles on the Apline Crossing

Up and over the crest of the alpine crossing, as I was running on the slopes of mt Doom (My Ngauruhoe was used as mt Doom for any shots showing the mountain in it's entirety) I finally came across the beginning of the crowds that flock to this trail, all, conveniently, going the "correct direction". Funnily enough, because I was wearing my standard winter running gear, shorts and a sun hoody with some backup warm clothes in a pack, one of the trekking guides mistook me for another kiwi! Before long I had come to the end of the standard trail, however I had intended to connect for another 7 miles to the next volcano to the south where I would hopefully meet Lindsay on the trail so we could check out some waterfalls. The back 7 running was, well, subterranean. I am not sure I have ever seen a trail more washed out, and I understand why there was so much extensive work done to stabilize the popular section now. In this lesser used section of trail, I was often in a trench up to 20 feet deep and constantly navigating loose unstable mud slopes as I went the out the many drainages I needed to traverse to get to the whakapapa trailhead. Checking the map, Lindsay decided on a self care napping day instead of a walk, so, once I got to my final choice, head up to a waterfall and make my intended loop or head south to the trailhead, I cut it short to just 18 miles, I was behind schedule anyway and Lindsay and I had things to do! All in all it was a nice trail for the alpine crossing section, somewhat unique, but it just goes to underscore the beauty that Lindsay and I live in here in the intermountain west!

Crossing the Apex of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Mt Fuji? or Mt Doom? looking back at Mt Ngauruhoe

The following day, we set out from a campsite just west of where the alpine crossing was set, with out sites on the Tongariro River instead of the national Park. The river generally is boatable year round, according to some prior research, at least for packrafts. I had planned for Lindsay and I to float the access 14 section, sandwiched between two basalt gorges that both hold class 5 water. The run we were looking at should top out at a low and boney class 3 but had a (short and flat) basalt slot canyon of its own, plus the water! It was supposed to be one of the cleanest rivers in the world and home to a whio (blue duck) population, which is apparently relatively rare. The access 13 section did not disappoint. Also, while camping the night before, we were graced with kiwi presence, or, at least, a kiwi screaming somewhere near by in the forest.

A quick moment of Calm on the Tongariro Access 13 stretch

After a 4 mile or so hike through the forest at sunrise, we made our way down to the river just downstream of the tree trunk gorge, apparently the site of a few boater deaths due to narrowness,. hydraulics and the possibility for wedged trees. Right off the bat, the water stood out for us Colorado plateau boaters used water thicker than chocolate milk. The river was definitely lowwww. It had decent flow but the bed was chocked with a lot of large ish boulders which allowed just enough room to maneuver around. Coincidentally this was our first trip with our new refuges which paddle a fair bit smaller than the expeditions we are used to. That combined with the new continent shock plus the fact that we were paddling north (into the sun and Lindsay forgot her sunglasses) meant that Lindsay was on edge and way in her head about the float. 

a Whio or Blue Duck

Passing through the Pillars of Hercules

In general the water was somewhat unremarkable, just fun and consistent steep ish boulders dodging drops with short pools between, not too dissimilar to a lot of the muddy rivers we paddle in Utah. Lindsay ended up bottoming out a few times and getting stuck, and decided to walk a few rapids that she wasn't feeling. About a mile and a half in, we saw a blue duck (whio)! Apparently there are only about 3000 left so seeing one was definitely a treat. Then, we saw another, and another, then a pair sitting on a rock! All in all we saw maybe 6 of these good looking ducks. After a few more boulder bar drops (the last one was pretty steep! At least where I dropped it) we found ourselves at the pillars of Hercules, the short basalt slot that marked the start of the gorge section. It's really hard to describe how beautiful the water here was, it had maybe a slight blue-green to it but was just so clear! After a while longer of some interesting pool and drop rapids, we passed under the electric transmission lines, an obvious sign to get out lest we need to send it over the waterfall in the gorge below. Before packing up the boats, I convinced Lindsay to jump in with me to celebrate the beauty of the river! The hike out was exciting. Almost like a 5.2 climb with packs,  but climbing on holds made of dirt and tree roots, ascending a hidden stair that took us out of the he gorge and back to the road a short walk from our site. I ran off to grab the car and we set off for Wellington and the south Island.

Walking over to the low water channel on the Makarora

To give a quick review of the south Island, it was everything I thought it would be and we didn't have nearly enough time. I shifted some of our plans around a fair bit due to weather and water conditions, originally thinking about floating in the whitewater hotspot of Murchison, then moving on to try the hāwea (which was at highest floor stage) until we finally settled on driving into the southern alps to run an all to short section of the Makarora. This was where we first met the new Zealand biting black fly, that, although it was winter, was still very much so active. The views were so worth it though, and the water here had all the clarity (and tons of huge trout) that the Tongariro had, but with more of a sapphire hue. A fair bit easier, the Makarora is a short 3 miles of class 2 boating. Conveniently, the main attraction in the area, the blue pools, were closed to foot traffic because the bridges were out of service. Luckily, with boats, we could still access them, and just wow, the color and clarity is just something else. The pools seem like they should be at a tropical beach, not the near-alpine in New Zealand with near freezing water temps. All too quickly we saw our white behemoth on the side of the highway indicating our take out and just about the end of our New Zealand trip.

About to take out on the Makarora

We did get a day of mediocre skiing in at the remarkables (maybe they are more remarkable with more snow) before moving on to Bali and a wedding followed by sickness that soured the end of the trip. I can't wait to go back and get more into the mountains and backcountry of the south island which definitely lived up to the hype.