[Paddlewise] Book suggestion for the liquid-water impaired - or other interested parties

Our local Texas Canoe list, and Houston Canoe Club web site have been
lit up with a new book:  Tecate Journals, 70 Days on the Rio Grande, by
Keith Bowden.  Published in 2007, this book is about a trip by mountain
bike, canoe, and raft, on the Rio Grande River from Presidio, Texas to
its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico.  The upper part of the run was of
necessity by mountain bike as the water wasn't deep or dependable enough
to take it on by canoe.  Of course I've had to run out and buy my own
copy and I'm only getting started with it, but I can confirm that it is
true to the reviews and this notice from the publisher's web site:



"* More than a man-against-nature adventure-the author floats us along
the border of political furor, cultural limbo, and dangerous human
encounters
*Touches on environmental issues, adrenalin-spiked action, and the
author's ambivalence with his own cultural identity
* A first work from a new voice that is parts gritty, elegant, and
contemporary

The Rio Grande is simultaneously one of the most watched and least
understood rivers in the world. Some stretches of the Rio pass for
endless miles through remote wilderness, boxed in by canyons hundreds of
feet high and inhabited by only the hardiest animals and humans. Other
stretches go straight through the center of massive urban areas, all but
ignored by the thousands of city folks above. It is a national border, a
water source, a dangerous rapid with house-sized boulders, a nature
refuge, a garbage dump, and a playground, depending on where you are on
its 1885-mile course.

That's why journalist Keith Bowden decided to become the first person to
travel the entire length of the Rio as it forms the border between
America and Mexico. This is his fascinating account of the journey by
bike, canoe, and raft along one of North America's most overlooked
resources. From illegal immigrants and drug runners trying to make it
into America to the border patrol working to stop them; from human
coyotes -- smugglers who help people navigate their way into the United
States-to encounters with real coyotes, mountain lions, and other flora
and fauna, Bowden reveals a side of America that few of us ever see. The
border between the U.S. and Mexico is, in many ways, a country unto
itself, where inhabitants share more in common with fellow riverside
dwellers than they do with the rest of their countrymen.

With this isolated and colorful micro-world as his backdrop, Bowden not
only explores his surroundings, but also tests his inner mettle along
some of the most dangerous and remote riparian wilderness in North
America."



I have personally paddled most of the mileage through Big Bend National
Park, and some distance above and below it, but of course not nearly the
distance Mr. Bowden describes.  It's a very interesting narrative and
great reading from many perspectives.  Maybe a Library near you has it
to lend, or you could order a copy for yourself.  It was published in
2007 so should be readily available.



Of course I was out paddling this weekend, a lot closer to home on
Spring Creek that forms the northern border of Harris County (where the
City of Houston is situated).  The local Jesse Jones Nature Center
provided canoes and shuttle, and guide, for free. Can't hardly beat that
on a beautiful, sandy-bottom creek just miles from the city limits.
Happy paddling - or reading!





Natalie Wiest

Library Director

Jack K. Williams Library

Texas A&M University at Galveston

(and sea kayaker and canoeist)
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