Rio Mora, July 3, 2015

It’s the Fourth of July weekend so we are expecting lots of campers, along with campers come fishermen and women.  Since Mark and Byron don’t like to share fishing locations we anticipate hiking some distance to get to a long, empty spot on the river.  This really works into Mark’s plan.  He and Byron have fished the Mora several times and never made it upstream more than a mile or so.  Those of you that have been following my blog know that they rarely make it more than 20 minutes upstream from the last people they see before they have to stop, put together their gear and start fishing.  This time Mark’s goal is to make it to the confluence of the Mora and Bear Creek somewhere between one and a half and two miles upriver.

We start early, about 30 minutes earlier than normal; the forecast is for rain most of the day getting heavier as the day goes on.  Past experience in the Pecos Wilderness usually means clouds and a strong possibility of rain even when rain is not in the forecast.  We all pack our rain gear along with waders and wading boots.  I bought both waders and boots earlier this year anticipating setting my tripod and camera mid river for a different perspective.

On our trek past the camping area we notice it is full, or at least we thought so.  It turns out when we returned late afternoon several more campers shoehorned their way into the few remaining square feet of unclaimed space.  This morning most of the people were still in their tents, trailers or motor homes as we hiked past at 830.  Others were milling around their campfires or making breakfast, all looking like they had a great time last night; hence the slow start this morning.

Cranesbill

As we start hiking I feel like a little kid.  The waders and boots are great; I can hike right through the middle of the largest pools not even thinking about skirting it.  I did not however stomp or jump through the pools like a ‘real’ little kid.

The air is heavy with moisture.  Leaves are wet and dripping, pools of water fill in the low spots of the trail as we make our way upstream.  I decided to take the lead on our hike; I don’t stop to look at the eddies and pools where the trout are lurking.  Somehow I manage to pull Mark and Byron along the first mile before we stop.  Nobody is ahead of us this morning.  The overnight rain has washed away all human tracks on the trail; we ARE the first ones today!

The river is quite high and fast.  Byron and I were here last November; it was substantially lower and slower.  We have to make several crossings as we continue upstream.  The Mora oscillates from side to side within the steep walled canyon.  Our choices are: cross the river, or scale the rocks anywhere from 20’ to 100’ depending on the rock formation.  Byron and Mark charge across the river barely slowing down.  Each of them has been doing this for a number of years.  I am nervous; on my back I am carrying over $1,000 worth of camera equipment which is not made for swimming.  I make it across breathing a sigh of relief knowing this is the first crossing of probably 20 or so.  I am told that polarizing glasses allow one to see into the water rather than the reflections off the surface of the water.  My next purchase.

First mid-river shot

I have been told that these fishing expeditions are friendly outings just to enjoy nature, catch a few fish and enjoy each other’s company.  I enjoy the photography portion of these trips.  I wander from the river to whatever interests me and back again.  I took off as soon as they stopped to assemble their equipment.  I was told by one of the guys some time later in the day that one of the guys said to the other “May the best man win”.  It is only a rumor that this was said but you know who you are.

As I was shooting a little upstream I could hear all kinds of whistling and calling between those two.  I stopped my shooting to make sure that everything was okay.  I don’t want to have to fish one of my fishing buddies out of the river.  It was only friendly?? banter going back and forth as they were pulling in their catches.

Thimbleberry flower

The air is fresh with the smells of moist earth and pine.  Wildflowers are in all stages of bloom.  I recognize Rocky Mountain Iris, Indian Paintbrush, Wild strawberries and Woods Rose.  Others I have to look up: Crane’s Bill, Elderberry and Thimbleberry. Others are still a mystery to me.  Ferns and mosses are flourishing in the dark hollows of the canyon walls.  These small vignettes remind me of my visit to coastal British Columbia.

I move back to the river to catch a few candids of the fishermen.  They are enjoying their day; both are catching native brown trout that inhabit this river.  While wandering up the river I notice a spot where I employ my boots and waders shooting a small rapid from the middle of the river.  I take my time with this one; this is my first mid river shot and I don’t want it to be my last.  I scout the location, go back for the tripod and position it making sure it is not going anywhere, go back for the camera firmly attaching it to the tripod, shoot a few test shots and study them deciding I need additional filtration for make long exposure images.  Success, I still have a dry, working camera, and good images.

Wild strawberry

We continue on, stopping for lunch and comparing notes.  At this point Mark has caught more trout but we still have a few hours of fishing.  We have not made it to Bear Creek yet.  Byron and I have been this far before but not any farther.  My GPS says it’s less than a half mile away.  The rain is still holding off but we hear occasional thunder rumbling in the distance.

Flutter of butterflies

Rather than following the river I opt for the trail and the elevation climb.  Once I make it over the top I descend through a gate to Bear Creek.  Bear Creek is about ¼ the size of the Mora with shrubs crowding the river bank as far as I care to follow the river.  There’s a small meadow with camp site and fire ring.  Here I notice a flight of butterflies crawling on the rocks ringing the fire pit and on the remains of the burnt out logs in the center of the pit.  I’m not certain what they are after but they are not easily scared away and quickly return once they leave.

It’s about this time we become separated.  The walkie-talkies Bryon brought help us to locate each other but Mark is far ahead of both of us but we are not sure if he went up the Mora or Bear Creek.  Fortunately at lunch we agreed that if we get separated we rendezvous at our lunch site which turns out to be only a 10 minute hike away.  The radios work well for short distances right up until the time Byron dropped his in the river.  We are looking to replace these radios with waterproof versions.  We catch up with Mark at our lunch site and plan the balance of the afternoon.

The Mora looks to be about the same size upstream from Bear Creek. The canyon walls are closer together getting steeper and higher as we continue.  River crossings occur more frequently as the Mora swings back and forth through the narrower valley.

As we continue the rumbles of thunder grow in frequency and intensity.  Looking at my GPS we have gone almost two miles upriver.  The river seems to be running a bit faster than when we started this morning.  We all assume that the thunder storms we hear elsewhere in the Pecos are also leaving rain somewhere upriver and it is now arriving at our location.

End of day

Reconvening we decide we have had enough fishing and photography for the day.  We don’t want to push our luck with the water levels and possible heavy rains that were forecast when we got here.  We turn back but nobody puts up their fishing or camera equipment just in case of one more opportunity.  Following our usual protocol it took us one hour 20 minutes to hike back what took us six hours and 50 minutes to hike to.

On the way back we made our usual stop at the Dairy Queen just outside of Pecos, NM.

It was a good day.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark