{"id":23582,"date":"2020-09-05T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T18:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=23582"},"modified":"2021-10-14T09:36:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T16:36:04","slug":"one-pot-meals-on-the-rio-grande","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2020\/09\/05\/one-pot-meals-on-the-rio-grande\/","title":{"rendered":"One-Pot Meals on the Rio Grande"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 1 |<\/strong> As Mercury makes its way out of retrograde, my wife and I launch our canoe into the Rio Grande. Other than fishing, hunting and gardening, I usually don\u2019t put thought into astrological movements. But we need all the help we can get. Over the past week, our vacation plans keep unraveling. The worst mishap being when in route to a more remote section of the river, my truck breaks down on a four-wheel-drive dirt road.<\/p>\n

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The put-in for Santa Elena section of the Rio Grande. Photo: Kate Wempe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With help from a friend we were able to get everything working again but it forces us to switch our canoe camping trip to the Santa Elena stretch of the Rio Grande, which has easier logistics. This 20-mile section of river starts outside the community of Lajitas, Texas and flows into Big Bend National Park. Although it\u2019s not the deepest of the Rio Grande canyons, Santa Elena has some of the tallest cliff faces, some of which tower 1,500 feet above the river.<\/p>\n

After saying goodbye to our shuttle driver, we meander downstream past willow and river cane. Patches of Big Bend Blue Bonnet, a tall lupine, purple and fragrant, and seemingly out of place in this arid country, offer a contrast to the iconic desert bluffs. The river is low this time of year and in some of the shallow shoals, we walk beside our loaded boat to keep from getting stuck. But we maintain a steady pace, knowing we need to cover 11 miles if we want to camp just above the canyon. The sun is starting to set by the time I start cooking, but our first dinner is a one-pot meal that takes half an hour to prep and cook.<\/p>\n