I'm in the early stages of planning a canoe trip with my wife and a bunch of
friends for the lower Rio Grande. The trip probably won't happen until the
autumn, but I'm looking into logistics right now. We'll probably put in at
La Linda and take out at Dryden Crossing. I have some basic questions for
anyone who has run this reach.



First, is it doable in hard shell canoes? Participants will range from very
experienced to somewhat novice. Of course we won't make a couple novices
run any class III or higher rapids, but are portages possible and not too
painful for some rapids?



Next, can anyone recommend an up to date guide for the river?



Finally, I'm in Tucson so I'm pretty familiar with the U.S.-Mexican border
issues. Over the past few years, the border area has gotten pretty
dangerous out here. In fact I often feel more comfortable running rivers
and camping in Mexico than camping in southern Arizona. I'm not worried
about undocumented aliens, but the coyotes and drug runners can be pretty
ruthless. Anyway, I've read a few things about potential crime on the Rio
Grande. Can I assume that because this stretch is pretty isolated we just
need to keep our eyes open and stay near our equipment or is that naïve?



Thanks in advance.



pjbphd


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