NMKI Blog

Friday, January 15, 2010 - 6:10pm    Admin

Kayaking is something your whole family can do, and in New Mexico, there are hundreds of places you can kayak together.  If your kids love exploring the outdoors, they'll find endless adventures exploring New Mexico's lakes and rivers by kayak.  New Mexico is home to five Congress-designated "Wild and Scenic" rivers, and numerous natural and man-made lakes, providing thousands of miles of shoreline waiting to be explored.

I'm often asked "At what age should I start teaching my kids to kayak?" and "How is the best way to introduce them to the sport?"  The answers can vary greatly from one child to the next, but by following a few simple guidelines, your kids will be begging you to take them out on the water again and again!

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Sunday, October 25, 2009 - 10:51pm    Admin

Watch the gauge on the Racecourse. The Rio Grande often rises a few hundred cfs in October (usually earlier than this though), so it wouldn't surprise me of the Racecourse got up to 500-1000 cfs over the next few days.  Get out and paddle, if you can. It's like paddling a different river with every increase of 100cfs.

Upper Rio Grand; Upper Box
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?08263500

State Park
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?08276500

Notice the lag between the two.

If the Racecourse is still a bit intimidating, the State Park is runable again above 450cfs.  The State Park doesn't change too much with increases in flow. It's still almost always class I, with Gauging Station a Class II...very predictable.

Happy paddling!
Kelly

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - 4:36pm    Admin

I've managed to avoid the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta each of the four years since moving to Albuquerque. A corporate day-job, trips to Mexico and Oregon seemed to pull me in different directions each October. Tales of death, power outages and traffic jams didn't sound like too much fun. But, much as I learned to enjoy a good Green Chili Cheeseburger, I've come to appreciate Albuquerque's world-famous Balloon Fiesta!

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Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 11:35am    Admin

This weekend turned out to be another awesome weekend on the river. For some time, I'd planned to head to Glenwood Springs to take a playboating clinic from my friend and Instructor Trainer, Nick Wigston. During the off time, Mike Pogzeba and I had planned to do a river-boarding lesson from Shane Boling, my Ripboard Riverboard supplier. Mike bummed his knee on a dirt bike, Shane bummed his knee on something other than a Riverboard, and the fuel filter on my truck told me it wasn't a good time to make the 8.5hr trek to Glendwood Springs.

Luckily, Plan B was in the making.

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