Louis F. Aulbach epub Lower Pecos River: Pandale to Lake Amistad

The Lower Pecos River trip from Pandale to Lake Amistad is approximately sixty river miles. There are forty-eight miles of free-flowing, and sometimes wild, river. The last twelve miles are across the waters of Lake Amistad which have inundated the deep canyon of the Pecos to depths of up to eighty feet.For many centuries, the inhabitants of this region have relied upon the river and its water. As the Trans Pecos became more arid, the importanceof the river increased. The Pecos became the focus of life for the paleo-Indians who lived in and around the river and the canyons of the Lower Pecos. No other river in Texas, and few others in the United States, passes through as many sites of prehistoric human habitation as the Pecos River.The Pecos, under normal flow conditions, is a pool and drop river. The pools can be wide and shallow, or relatively deep and subject to the buffets of high, gusty winds. The drops are short ledges, steep and rocky drops, or long, complex boulder gardens. There are several Class II rapids and two Class III to III+ rapids. In addition, several miles of grooved channels in the stream bed, commonly called "the flutes", challenge the paddling skills in a uniquely "Pecos" way.