Rio Embudo

The two things I heard about the Embudo before I went was that you should go at lowish water your first time, and that you should have a guide. The water was not low last weekend, and we could not find a guide, but Ian, Kevin, Famous Jon and myself decided to give it a go anyway. It is a very continuous river, which makes it tough to do without a guide, but not at all impossible. We scouted a few times unnecessarily and ran a couple large rapids blind, but it all worked out alright. We had a level of 3.4 on Saturday and 3.3 on Sunday, which seemed like great solid medium levels.

This run starts mellow and gradually builds to class IV before things really kick off. Long Rapid is the first big one. It consists of about 1/2 mile of class IV-V with no chance to scout or eddy out. This is the deepest point in the Upper Gorge and very bad place to swim, which made me pretty concerned when I got beaten on rocks and swam. Very fortunately, my boat floated right to me in the eddy and I was still in business. As Ian succinctly noted, "you're a lucky m#th$rf%ck&r." The next big rapid is Cheesegrater. This is possibly the steepest rapid on the run, but one of the cleanest large drops. Famous Jon in the entrance.

Kevin in the main falls. This shot shows how steep this drop really is.

A few drops after Cheesegrater is MJ Falls, which I walked after watching bad results on the first two attempts. This rapid seemed to treat folks better with the slightly lower level on Sunday. The exit to the Upper Gorge has one more significant rapid, Carnival, which deserves a scout if you do not have a guide.

The lull between the Upper and Lower Gorges is shorter than I had imagined (couple hundred yards). We ran Slamdance blind accidentally on Saturday and intentionally on Sunday. It really sneaks up on you. After this, the Slots of Fun follow quickly. This rapid is really what gives the run its rating. It is impossible to portage completely on either side. The portage involves ferrying in the meat of the rapid, which is probably harder than just running it. I think the best way to do it is to run the first few drops then eddy left to scout the last two. The last drop is intimidating, and probably goes more smoothly with more water.

Ian in the final slot.

After slots, all that is left is Taco Garden, a somewhat manky runout. This is a great run, but not to be taken lightly. You should go planning on running Class V rapids, some blind. The scouting options are poor, and the portaging options are worse. But if you are up to it, it is hard to find a better run in the Rockies. 3.3-3.4 seemed like a great level. I would not make the drive under 3 feet. 3.5 is probably a good max for a first run. Tenths of a foot on the gauge equal significant changes in the canyon. Thanks to Atom for his hospitality. Look him up any time you head south.