Waterfalls and Water Rafting in South Fork

When we first move to a new area, we makes a mental list of things we would like to do before we leave.  That list usually gets longer as we talk to more locals and learn more interesting things in the area.  After being in South Fork for almost three weeks, our list was very long.  So the last few days were busy trying to conquer "the list."  Because we have had such cool temperatures and rain showers almost every afternoon, two of our water activities were last on the list.  It was time to conquer the water!

We finally headed north on highway 149 towards two waterfalls that had been recommended.  On the way, there was a stop at the headwaters of the Rio Grande River.  We have been following this great river since February when we camped a few miles from it.    We saw where it ended at the Gulf of Mexico, and now we have seen where it begins.

Our destination was the North Clear Creek waterfall, between the towns of Creede and Lake City.  It's a beautiful highway drive with some great water at the end.  You can barely see Mark at the top of the waterfall.  If you look closely, you can also see a family in the grassy area in the bottom left of the photo.  They made a very difficult hike to get to the base of the waterfall.  We would talk to them later so we could email them the pictures we had taken from the top.  It's a small world, because they are from the tiny town of Vici, Oklahoma, very close to our home town.

We started that difficult hike to the bottom.  We climbed down the trail into the canyon and scrambled over enough boulders to get a view of the waterfall from the bottom.  We decided we weren't as tough as the young guys that made it all the way to the falls.  (Actually Mark said we were tough enough, just not motivated enough today.)

The next stop was just a few miles through the mountains to the South Clear Creek waterfall.  Less known and harder to access, we had this beautiful canyon with its roaring river to ourselves.

The south falls were actually more spectacular, but harder to photograph.  Mark wanted to climb out on the rocks to get a good picture, but his parents will be glad that Denisa stopped him.  This was the best shot we could get of just a piece of the falls--another one of God's wonders.

In case we hadn't seen enough water, it started falling from the sky.  We have learned that a good tree is the best protection from these passing storms (as long as it doesn't include lightning).  We believe this is an Engelmann Spruce, so it was a fitting place for a couple Engelmans to hang out from the rain.

Most of these mountain showers are over quickly, so we were back to sit by the waterfall and the clear skies.

The last day we were in South Fork was our last water activity--floating the Rio Grande River.  We have been camped just a quarter mile from the river for almost three weeks, and Denisa has been waiting for this float trip for a long time!  We got a ride to an easy put-in spot just 6 miles from our RV park.  Thanks Kevin!  He also gave us some expert advice on the river that he has enjoyed for many years. 

It takes us about ten minutes to get our inflatable kayak ready for the water, and we have enjoyed so many beautiful places with it.  The mountain scenery during the first part of the float was great!

The only other boaters we saw on this stretch of the river were a couple that was fishing with a guide.  Denisa prefers her guide and main rudderman--Mark.

We have heard that by this time of the summer the water can be too low (or the rocks too high) for a good ride.  We could see a few rocks, but the rudder man avoided (most of) them.

We had a great float and it was nice to let the river current provide the locomotion for this boat trip.  Too soon we were back to the take out point, just a short walk away from home.  We love living so close to a mountain river!

South Fork has been a great cool place to spend most of the month of July, and we have enjoyed the friends we have met at Aspen Ridge RV Park.  We feel like we have been blessed and we have found our treasure at the end of the rainbow.