The River

The Rio Grande begins in the mountains of Colorado and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. In south central New Mexico the river is harnessed by the Elephant Butte Dam to generate electricity, with the resulting flow held in check by the Caballo Dam.

In late winter, additional water is allowed into Caballo Lake, actually an afterbay, and shortly after that the Caballo Dam starts releasing water and the Rio Grande is reborn once again.

When we visited the area in February the river was dry so we stopped back by a month later on our way north to see the difference. The blog is written as if we were heading south and will show before and after pictures when possible.

Caballo Lake was noticeably higher.

Before.

After.

What? You don't see much difference. Take a look at the Riverside camping area.

Percha Dam was the same thing. The river was flowing. Yippee!

Wait, where did Freddy go?

The pictures I really wanted to capture were at Leasburg Dam when the river came charging around a bend and approached the dam.

The release date this year was the morning of March 16th, so we arrived on the 15th and were all set to go. 

Except the river wasn't cooperating.

12:30 pm.

Sunset.

Of course by dawn the flow had arrived.

Oh well.

The river brought quite a bit of debris and foam with it.

Here is a look from the group area. 

Upstream.

Downstream.

A closer look at the canal as we walked down to the river.

Nifty. How about a closer look at the dam and the foam.

Some before and after river pictures.

And from the upper day use area.

One of my favorite photos from my first visit to Leasburg was the top fence below. I liked the reflections. I'm sure after the river settles they will be back.

Anyway, I mentioned that there was lot of stuff floating down the river. I swapped out my wide angle zoom for a telephoto to see what I could find.

That one above looks like chocolate milk. Let's add some marshmallows'

Looks yummy.

I mentioned earlier how much I like reflections. Since the river is now flowing it was time for some new sunset pictures.

The campers in the group site above (my site the last time the pup and I were here) had no idea the river was about to start flowing soon. Friday afternoon as I waited patiently outside the dam keeper's house for pictures the kids were frolicking in the few pools of water below the dam. Their parents were informed and I said I would honk my car horn if I saw the river approaching. Which it didn't. The next morning they were all staring in awe as the Rio Grande thundered past.

Freddy, meanwhile, was getting frustrated. I asked him what was wrong.

"Trees, Greg. I need trees. I like the desert but I don't like prickly trees. They hurt when I lift my leg sometimes."

I stifled a laugh.

"Alright buddy. We are heading north and I know a nice campground way up in the mountains called Manzano."

"Are there rabbits?"

"Nope, squirrels . Big ones called Manzano Mountain Squirrels. But they don't have fangs like the Giant Cave Rabbits at Rockhound."

"OK."

So we drove to Manzano State Park.

And woke up the next morning to this:

But that is for the next blog.

Regards,

Greg and Freddy (The Abominable Snow Dog)