Albuquerque’s River

March 06, 2014

Voices, Envirolocal

Most people in Albuquerque see the Rio Grande in flashes, from a bike path or a bridge. But really? That’s no way to know a river. It takes drifting downstream and sometimes, running into sandbars. The river provides water to cities and farmers. But it’s also a place of wildness, and of solace. Here's an audio postcard from a canoe trip in the spring of 2013.

While working on another project last spring, I canoed down the Middle Rio Grande, from the north end of Corrales to the Alameda Bridge. Requiring both arms for recording and snapping pictures, I went along with a guide, Stephanie DeHerrera, who talked about river running--and raising kids on New Mexico's rivers. Traveling down the waters of the Rio Grande in March, by the way, is a great time to see everything from beavers and porcupines to kingfishers and raptors (and hear coyotes and songbirds). This trip was at the end of March, 2013, when turkey vultures were just returning to the valley.

 




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Laura Paskus's photo

Laura Paskus

Laura Paskus is an independent writer, editor, and radio reporter based in New Mexico. Her work has appeared in Ms., New Mexico Magazine, The Progressive, Columbia Journalism Review, Women’s eNews, High Country News, Santa Fe Reporter, New Mexico Independent, The Mountain Gazette, Forest, Audubon, Orion, and Law & Politics.

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