Lower Verde Chico Day 1.

Long Overdue, yet fresh in my mind...not sure I will ever forget this day...quite happy it was only a day...and what an incredible day it was...

Let me begin by saying that I am privileged to have paddled some incredible sections of river in my short 25 years. I have paddled some hard sections...some steep sections...some mentally taxing sections. This one takes the cake. Lower Verde Chico. Giant, long, steep, class V boulder gardens.

Oh...and I only paddled the first half.

We woke up, Daniel Young, Diego Robles and myself, and loaded our boats in a truck taxi and headed up the steep Verde Chico Canyon. For years, I heard about this run from a few close friends.  Daniel Young was one of those friends, along with William Craig "The Hammer" Parks, and Dr. Brian Milhouse Synder Ph.D...but enough name dropping...

Stopping about 1,000ft. above the river, we jumped out and looked down. When a run looks hard and a little scary from 1,000ft away...well, you get the idea. 

It's cliche to say this: but these pictures will never do justice to this run. Enjoy.

Pumpkins at the put-in.

First significant rapid.

Diego from a different perspective.

Daniel subbed out at the bottom.

First big rapid.

Diego looking downstream.

Daniel stern skirts his mint condition Habitat, leading in to the big boof.

Stylish.

Boofage.

Diego boofin'. Beautiful spot.

Long, Steep, Bouldery Goodness.

We took a break in between 2 huge rapids. 

Towards the end of Day 1, some beautiful scenery.

Climbing out at the bridge.

Looking down in to the second part of the run. The boys would finish it the next day.

Shuttle back to town. The boys were nice and let me ride inside with the cops. Thanks guys!

To be continued...(without me)

Joe