Kayaking San Antonio's Guadalupe River

Traveling through San Antonio on my 2007 winter trip allowed me to renew my friendship with Mike Fox, whom I had met four years earlier on the Great River Rumble paddle on the Mississippi River. We also paddled together on the San Juan River raft trip that same year. Mike belongs to the International Saturday Paddlers of San Antonio and invited me to join the group for a Saturday paddle, and about 17 boats made up our flotilla. The Guadalupe is a beautiful river, and fed by recent rains, was running nicely with enough water to avoid having to walk any sections and provided riffles and rapids in numerous places.

The Guadalupe is subject to floods, sometimes over 30 feet high, and debris clogs abounded as seen to river left in the photo below, and also above my head in a branch. The narrows added to the excitement as river water rushed through the reduced openings, creating brief rapids and eddies.

   

Susan maneuvers through Velvet Falls Rapid, a tricky zig-zag route to avoid numerous rocks. It came near the end of our run and provided a rousing finish to our beautiful day on the river, and all paddlers made it through the rapid without swimming.

  

Pablo's companion is Milo, who enjoyed riding the kayak, but preferred swimming and fetching the countless branches floating in the water. Milo entertained us often with his energy and curiosity. 

And in case you thought all of Texas was flat, check this topography and scenery out...

But most of our day was enjoying scenery like this...