With a new glamping resort and state park, the Pecos River Canyon is primed for anglers, campers, and outdoor adventurers. But a proposed mining operation has many fearful of what else may be on the horizon. I tug back, just attempting to unhook the bottom, then glimpse the pale, lean flash of a brown trout as it shakes the hook loose and dives back into the current.
My fly-fishing guide, Todd Emerson, sees it and whoops. I try again, aiming into the same rivulet. This time when the indicator moves, I set the hook.
Another eight-or-so-inch brown wriggles on the line. I kneel in the shallows, wet my hands, and hold it for a slippery, numb-fingered moment, admiring the red speckles on its tawny sides. That feels about right for the Pecos River Canyon; at one turn shockingly generous and welcoming, and at another, disinclined to give easily.
The river runs from alpine headwaters through steep granite canyons and out to the village of Pecos, the last place to snag a burrito or a burger. Almost every hike starts with a steep climb out of the river valley to alpine lakes and high peaks. Now, long-held hopes of supporting a vibrant river with a robust but responsible outdoor recreation scene are facing a historic specter: a proposed new mine.
For a decade, a previous mine nurtured a bustling town in the canyon; it opened the country to people, some say. When life called for a change for her and her husband, Marc Rasic, she wanted to come home and run a place for glamping. That it could be along the Pecos River seemed like the stuff of dreams.
