Category Archives: Texas

Kayaking the Guadalupe River in December (1-Dec-2018)


Following up on Friday’s shenanigans above The Horseshoe, we were at it again, this time we started at the River House and headed downstream on the Guadalupe River.

Weather was even nicer than Friday, with good temps and plenty of sunshine. What a great way to keep up the weekend rocking.

Heading into The Horseshoe is a nice easy paddle, providing plenty of time to get warmed up, acclimated and ready for the Class II+ challenges ahead. Piece of cake in a raft, but a bit of a challenge for someone that’s not been kayaking rivers for more than a few months (aka. me).

Even with the leaves mostly gone now, it’s still a great river to run. The terrain changes quite a bit along the river.. with some low-bank sections with homes and others lined with trees.

The banks get a little steeper and the river a little quicker as it narrows up, providing some nice warmup sections before hitting the remains of several dams paddle wheels along the river.

On the left side, are some campsites that are part of the Whitewater Amphitheater, which is right on the river. Check the schedule, the summer season kicks off with Wille Nelson shows.

There are some fun little rapids where the river splits through a small grove of trees.

There are 6 places the roads cross the river, they have a numbering conventions, starting from the edge of New Braunfels (crossing #1 is right as you get into town). This here is crossing #4 and due to a minor mishap on the river, was the takeout point for our trip.

It was a fantastic day. As is the tradition, we cap off the day with a fire.

I’m going to look at some ways to take some better pictures, and probably some video next time out. I just hope the weather holds and the Army Corps of Engineers don’t cut the flow back too much more; having to drag boats and portage around exposed dams is a little less than idea.