The Rio Palguin is a classic run just outside of Pucon. Heading towards Currahue you will see a sign saying Palguin Hostal. Turn up this road. Head up this road for a fair ways and on your right will be a large shoulder on the side of the road. This is the put in. Take the trail on the left side, but be aware as there is a bit of a ledge that you need to get down. It is about 6 feet tall but the rocks are usually very slippery. Cross the land bridge and seal slide in. The first rapid of the run is one of the most technical. it is a double drop with shallow little rapid leading into it. On both of the drops stay on the left side and use a right boof stroke. the next drop has two small holes leading into it and ends with a 12 foot boof around a corner. Hug the left wall around the corner and boof off of the middle right side. Now for a nice 20 footer that can be run on both the left and the right with either a boof or plug. After the pool there is a little rapid that, at high water turns into a nasty hole. at low water run on the left. Now the crack. The next section has three little channels the middle is the crack. Run right down the middle holding your paddle like a spear. the left side can also be run, but it feeds into an undercut so be careful. Now you have the option of two different take outs. hug the left shore and get out before the huge horizon line. this is the Portage drop. You can take out here or throw your boat into the pool below, jump in and continue down a little further. There is a rapid with an under cut wall. After eddy out on the right and find the old wooden ladder. Head back to Pucon and share your stories.
About: Matt
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- Matt Hill is a senior at New River Academy. He has been paddling for 4 years now, and it has consumed his life. He can't go one day without thinking about kayaking. He Lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he also works at Paddlinglife.net.During the summers he attends the Ottawa Kayak School's Keener program where he is coached by some of the best professional kayakers in the world (ottawakayak.com). He is sponsored by Head Trip Helmets and Liquid Logic kayaks. He is also an avid photographer, and many of his pictures are viewable on this blog page.
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Rio Palguin: upper
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Some whitewater photos
Friday, February 12th, 2010Here are a few whitewater photos that I don’t think yinz have seen. We are doing a continuing project with whitewater photography the whole time while in Chile. See you on the water!
Charming Chosuenco and the Furious Fuy
Saturday, February 6th, 2010We are about 3/4 of the way through our stay in quaint little Choshuenco. New to this year is a paved main street as well as paved sections of road on the way into the town. We are staying at La Posada a small hostel right in the middle of town. There is a large beach here lake side and a pretty frickin sweet rusted up old boat. We have however not only brought the party to this town, but also the rain. It has rained here non-stop since day two and there are no signs of it lightening up.
The Fuy is definitely a highlight of this little venture. There are three sections to this river. The upper is a mixture of steep rapids and waterfalls highlighted by the park and huck 25 footer. The middle and lower are both boulder garden type drops. The middle and lower sections can be run one to the other however to run the upper into everything else may be a bit of a venture.
Yesterday we took a small break from the river and went to Huilo-Huilo private park or something like that, I don’t think it was a national park. There was 2 huge waterfalls one a 130 footer and the other a 90 footer called Salto de Puma.
See you on the water!
Rio Llanchahue
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010This run was done by geography teacher Matt Smink, and student Stephen Forster. I did not take part as I was not in the country. I am however conveying this information to you to better your river running experience. Photos on map by Matt Smink.
Drive from Pucon to Rio Llancahue
This is the drive from Pucon to the put-in Of the Rio Llancahue. The drive goes past the Termas Geometricas near Conaripe. Be wary though as the road is not maintained as well as others in the area so nice weather and a four wheel drive car is recommended. The put in will be marked with a sign that says: “No a las centrales hidroelectricas de paso en una zona de turistica.”
The run is a solid class 4 venture beginning with a good twenty foot drop. There are many other drops which can be run, scouted and portaged with the help of the riverside road. After the three waterfalls there is however a mandatory portage on river right due to log jams. (See photos).
The run ends after a short twisting slide, and are able to be seen from the road. Be sure to keep your suit on as tons of hot springs are close by!
P.S. Be sure to watch out for wood, and the drops can be easily portaged on the road that runs alongside
See you on the water!
Well here we are!
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010So yeah. Here we are in ‘The’ land of amazingness. Clear water, clean drops and tons o’ gorgeous beauties. Here is the keeping parents happy part of the blog. First off all our flights went well, and we all had tons of fun. Second, we are getting tons of good food. Third we have a coach who is alright, oh what am I saying he’s pretty good. Mr. Billy Harris is one of the greatest kayak instructors to come out of the great white north. Canada! We have also met up with the gap year kids, David, Kyle, and Katie and all our other teachers. So sad to see Melina go but Callie is a great replacement. Aside from Callie we also have Lorenzo, the new all chilean, all the time spanish teacher.
We spent a few days in Pucon and now we are in the little, but growing, town of Choshuenco near the Rio Fuy. the Fuy is great with both play and drops, like today. Today, we had a little park and huck sesh, with Jess lightin’ up her first drop. Yeah Jess! And we’ll see what tomorrow brings!
See you on the water!
Rio Maichin
Saturday, December 12th, 2009To get to the Rio Maichin head towards Curarrehue and follow signs to Reigolil. Cross the Maichin bridge and follow the road for about 4 miles until you can see the river right next to the road. This will be the put-in for the 7 kilometer Maichin run. After a few warm up rapids there will be a larger horizon line that looks like a narrower slot. This rapid is undercut and should be scouted on the right. It is best to run right to try to avoid both the undercut and the big hole at the bottom. Trying to boof the hole may end badly as it is pretty large and sticky. If you are going to walk this rapid be aware that the rocks are very slippery and the way to get back in is by seal sliding in after the hole. After this rapid the river becomes easier for a while with lots of smaller, shallower rapids. After about a mile the river will start to pick back up again with rapids that have some bigger holes and tougher lines. A rapid will come up that has two large rocks sticking up on the left and in the middle, with a drop in between the rocks and to the left. This rapid is best run through the center staying close to the rock on the left. The next big rapid can easily be scouted on the right side but it is definitely easier than it looks. The rapid is a bit of a slide drop with some swirly water at the bottom. Run it right, and take a breather in the pool below. This is really the last of any significant rapids in the canyon. After a mile past the bridge there will be a spot with a beach that leads into a field on the river right side. This will be the take out.
See you on the water!
Rio Maichin
Achibueno! Gehzuntight!
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009Although my actual river time on the Achibueno was limited (see past article about teacups and back pain), time spent taking photos definitely made up for it. Situated in a quaint little chalet type lodge, surrounded by snowcapped peaks, and access provided only by a Chilean 4×4 road (the road was not so much a road, but an adventure) our Achibueno base was by far the most rustic, as well as the most relaxing. We arrived late in the afternoon to a warm fire and dinner only an hour away. We have been eating like kings, so don’t worry mom and dad. I set up my hammock and did a little homework. As the sun was starting to wane the time arrived for some longer exposure shots. I captured an excellent photo of Andy writing our physics test by head-lamp. The next day after a half day of school we did the never ending run. What we thought was 9 kilometers turned into 900… minus like 885, the last half of which we were barely scraping over rocks. The upper section, though short was just as fun. There are more boofs per mile than any other river ever, there were more bpm’s than techno music. After two colder days off I pulled my self up by my bootie straps and ran the upper section. Though short it did provide tons of fun. With some more technical maneuvers, and some burlier holes the run turned into a super sweet game of follow the leader.
The time off the water did provide me with some great pictures. For our photo class our assignment was to do long exposure shots. The grand fire place provided a great source for lighting as well as the gathering of people. It was hard to get star trails this time around, but the clouds did move relatively fast so that helped to provide some cool night shots. The time spent at the Achibueno was great, no interwebs and limited electricity brought us closer together, but the smell from camping and wet gear may have driven us a little apart, however I am very grateful for dave for organizing such a wonderful string of destinations. High five Dave!
See you on the water!
Vientedos Saltos Run
Saturday, November 28th, 2009The Veintedos Saltos is a run that should not be taken lightly, and neither is the shuttle. Start driving towards the hosterias at the Pargue Ingles just before you reach them there will be a gate. Go through this gate and find another gate that will be lifted. Lift the gate and continue up the road, until you get to a section where there looks like a dry stream comes into the road. This is where the walk starts. Follow the dry stream and cross a stream that will have water in it. After this you will come to a sign saying Parque Ingles and something else. About 100 feet after this sign there will be a faint trail. Follow this trail to another dry stream bed and follow the dry bed to the river. At the river turn left and lower boats to the section below, go upstream and find a seal launch above a seven foot drop. Put-in and now the fun begins! The seven footer is very clean and easy and can be run any way you please. Then there will be a large 25 footer, that is run center with a plug. Next up is a 6 foot slide to 10 foot drop that runs up the left wall. Ride the left wall and boof late to clean the drop. Next comes another slide drop combo about 20 feet tall. Run it left and boof into the left eddy. When you reach a spot where it looks like a double drop where it is hard to judge the height this is the 30 footer. Run the first drop into the boily eddy and then run te 30 footer on the left, charge left to avoid a rock that may impact the bottom of your boat. A boof is inadvisable unless desiring a lower back injury. Take a rest in the pool below. Now comes the “Canyon” a tight S-bend with water flying every which way and a strong hydraulic in the middle. Boof the hole and keep your paddle close in. the rest of the run gets easy from here. There is another drop nearing the end with pillow half way down. It is a bit of a double drop. Ride high on the pillow and boof to clean the drop. On the next drop stay about 2 feet off of the left wall to avoid a hole and then after another small drop float on to the Parque Ingles bridge for the take-out.
Vientedos Saltos
see you on the water!
Un Semana en Las Siete Tazas
Friday, November 20th, 2009This past week has not only blown my mind but my back as well. The waterfalls were clean and the water, the most amazing color ever. There was just so much fun to be had there. We stayed at this super quaint hosteria right on the banks of the Rio Claro, at the put-in of the Entresaltos and the take out of the Vientedos saltos. Both were super epic runs. The first day we did a little warm up on the Entresaltos just to get our boofs down pat. Then the next day Stephen, Haakon, Matt, Dave and I all ran the Vientedos Saltos, while everyone else did the Tazas. It was without a doubt one of the most epic experiences for me. The run started with a seal slide into 7 footer followed by this super clean 25 foot drop. I unfortunately landed flat, causing a little back ache, but this would be a recurring theme through out the week, and not just for me. After two sweet slide drops that rode up a little on the wall we came to one of the most adrenaline filled moments of my life. We approached a blind thirty foot drop with absolutely no info about it. The drop is actually a double drop where there is eight footer that leads into the grand drop. I was happy that I plugged the drop, but I did run a little to close to the right wall and hit my elbow on aforementioned wall. Thank god for elbow pads, eh? After a harrowing run through a tight little canyon filled with boils and a strong hole we came to the easy part. After a few more drops we came to the take out at our cabins and had a nice dinner before a great nights rest.
Two days later Stephen, Tino, and Dave got to run the craziest drop I have ever seen. It is a 180 degree slide into a 25 foot drop. They then met us at the take out. It was raining super hard that day, and then it started to thunder, so we did not run the Seven Teacups as planned that day. We did paddle the next day though and I finally got to run the Teacups. Those were the cleanest water falls I have ever done. Chile is the land of clean waterfalls! Don’t think that I did not document this occasion either, I have some super sweet photos for your viewing pleasure!
See you on the water!
Why I paddle
Friday, November 13th, 2009They say that the paddling community has only 85% the number of participants than in 2000. Where are the youth paddling? Are they paddling? After traveling all around the country with New River Academy I have noticed that there is a surprising lack young paddlers. On the Gauley I observed that the average paddler was between the age of 25 and god-knows-how-old. The only other young paddlers out there I saw other than our group was that of World Class Academy. Even here in Colorado I am noticing a lack of younger paddlers. When I go out and paddle it is me and about 4 of my friends, we make up a lot of Steamboat’s core youth paddling community.
Kayaking has taught me many great life skills. Perseverance, attitude, hard work. Now tell me if you are a parent or parent figure, these are qualities that you would like your child to have, eh? Sure paddling may be scary at first but given the right time and frame of mind, which is a very important thing to have, kayaking can be a life long endeavor. I don’t think that I will ever stop kayaking; it is a firm tree that has taken root in my heart and provides me the fruit of joy and personal growth.
Kayakers are always willing to help. Many ‘normal’ people only help after finding out what’s in it for them. More than just help fellow humans I believe that kayakers also have a better connection with their earth as well. We look out for our rivers, we look out for the fish in them, and we look out for the people who use them; not just for recreation, but for other things like irrigation and drinking water. We loath pollution, like that of mining waste filling valleys, or dumping of chemical; we protect fish populations, or at least try to help them by opposing dams that inhibit natural migration.
Determination. Huge part of kayaking. In the middle of a rapid you can’t just give up, you need to keep going and you need to do it right. This may be a fear of death but it is all about determination. You have to be determined to get to the end in one piece, to get past the obstacle by paddling as hard as possible. Your muscles may burn, your hands may be blistered but you need to get past that and think only about what must be done at that one moment. This may also be called perseverance, and with out it I feel like I would not accomplish anything, not try anything. That’s another thing kayaking is all about trying new things. New experiences, Huge Experiences.
This is why I am so lucky to go to New River Academy. I get to travel all around the world while kayaking at the same time. See new places, meet new people, and see different ways of living. I like to think of my kayak as a passport. Not only as a way to get from point A to point B, but also a way of meeting new people, and interacting with different cultures. I see kayaking and rivers as a worldly venture, one that can not be bound to certain areas or demographics. Kayaking can not be put into a box and stored, it needs to stay free, to crash down the tumbling rapids, and wind lazily down the canyons.
Kayaking is my life, river water is my blood, and my gear is my skin. The numbers may be declining, there may be less youth paddling, but kayaking will never die. It is a lifestyle, a teacher, and a friend. Open the front door and let him in, and like a friend who is a pilot, kayaking will take you places you’ve never imagined.
This article can also be found on Paddlinglife.net
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