Pristine Water

It's hard for me to believe that this was my view a week ago today. To get to this point on the Devils River in west Texas you have to portage around a waterfall, run multiple sets of rapids (2 of which I flipped my kayak on) and paddle 13 or 28 miles (depending on where you access the river). There is no other way to this point on the river unless you are one of the property owners whose land strides the river. There are numerous No Trespassing signs along the river to remind you that almost all of the land is privately owned as you make your way toward Amistad Lake that the Devils River feeds into. There are only 2 ways onto the river if you are not a landowner, either Baker's Crossing on FM 163 or through the Devils River State Natural Area that requires an outfitter with a permit from the state to take you there. This is one of the most remote places I've ever been in terms of being able to get to the outside world should the need arise. If you get off the river you stand the chance of meeting the wrong end of a landowners gun, not to mention whatever fines are bestowed upon you for trespassing. But, with all of that said, for this view I would do it all over again. And now that I have experience on the river and know what lays ahead from this point to the next campsite,, I would time it so I was in this spot later in the afternoon to early evening. The wind was blowing quiet strongly when I made this image and even with a polarizer and neutral density filter I could only flatten the surface of the water so much. I could not tell how deep the water was in the channel that runs through the middle of the image, but even as clear as the water was, I could not see the bottom. I found one of the few tiny islands in the middle of the river for this image. Just large enough for me, my tripod and enough room to pull my kayak onto to keep it from floating away. The overcast skies from the previous 2 days had been blown out by a cold front that had blown through the night before leaving partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures in its wake. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)
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