Enjoying it while we can

Pretty spectacular river scenery, eh? Some recent rains made one of our favorite stretches of the upper Guadalupe paddleable, when it isn't at lower water. We started at the 311 bridge and floated a very pleasant 5 miles or so to the Rebecca Creek crossing. The panoramic shot above is at Rust Falls, where there's a nice high bank that's perfect for scouting and picture-taking. I wish all the rapids on the river had such vantage points for viewing!

The other nice falls on our route is Müller, where I was able to take a few more pictures, in spite of there not being a nice lookout hill.

looking back at the falls after my transit

Here are a couple of close-ups of two distinct sections of the fall...

this is the more exciting option, taken by some of our play-boaters

a bit to the right of this shot is the much easier channel taken by yours truly

The cypress trees along the banks were just beginning to sprout foliage that was still too early to show up in any of my photos. But there were still some pretty dramatic sights on offer for tree-lovers. You might have seen one in my last Wordless Wednesday post, and here are some more. Isn't the moss wonderful on these guys?! Making what was already a tree with gorgeous bones even more dramatically beautiful.

And, as I've shown you in other posts lately, there's still evidence in trees along the way of the power of some recent floods.

Yes, that is some sort of watercraft in that tree, at a much higher elevation that is now imaginable, and twisted almost beyond recognition.

Fortunately, all of our boats were carried along on a much kinder current, although still one that made for some exciting moments. Here are Henry and Joline finishing up one of these, the aforementioned far left channel around Müller Falls:

What a fun stretch of river at this water level! Here are the bookends, our put-in and take-out spots...

the 311 bridge, complete with some rather elaborate graffili that must
have been exciting to create...from a boat in the stream?

take-out at Rebecca Creek Road

You might note the majorly hole-y limestone on the near bank at our take-out. If you want to see more of these wonderful rock formations, stay tuned. I was quite impressed with them and took a few pictures I think you might like.