We met our guide James at 8am at the Lajitas Crossing to load and board the rafts. The river was still, the sky was clear, and the morning was early.

There were two rafts launching. The passengers in our raft in addition to ourselves and the guide, were a recently married couple from El Paso. The other raft contained a guide and three guys who “clocked in” before we even launched. Ah, beer…the breakfast of champions. After a short row, we finally hit some rapids.

They were pretty mild. The views were awesome though.

We stopped for lunch around noon near the entrance of Santa Elena Canyon. There was a small rocky beach on the Mexican side of the river where we ate and explored. I guess you could say we were illegal immigrants.

After lunch, we continued down the river. The pace picked up as we went through some class III and IV rapids.

One in particular was called the Rock Slide. The Rock Slide was created centuries ago when a portion of the cliffs overhead collapsed and choked the river with house-sized boulders.

Once we were out of the rapids, we floated through the 1500 ft canyon walls of Santa Elena.

It was a long day, but one we will never forget. The pictures do not do justice to the sites encountered floating down the Rio Grande through Santa Elena Canyon.