These past few days have been pretty hectic. Returning home after spending a month with my sister out in colorado and only having only a couple days to see all my friends, spend time with my family, apply for college and get all my stuff packed and ready to leave for chile on the 7th. Packing for 10 weeks is not an easy task. what girl can go 2 months with only two t-shirts? But eventually after repacking a few times i got all my stuff to fit. On the morning of the 7th headed to the ottawa airport where i had to fly to Chicago. Weather in Chicago wasn’t very good, so my flight to Chicago was delayed. Then my flight leaving Chicago was delayed to Dallas. The Dallas airport is sweet btw. it has a mono rail around the airport. I felt like I was on the simpsons… except that one almost crashed. Met up Mr. David Gorski. Again the flight to Santiago was delayed as well, because of technical difficulties? Something about a gas gage or something. The flight was okay, long, a little under 10 hours. I was lucky enough to sleep for most of it. Once arrived in Santiago met up with the other gap year student, Kyle. and on the other side of customs met up with the teachers, Matt and Lorne. From there we drove about an hour out side of Santiago to the Miapo river, we had a little car trouble on the way but nothing a little duck tape can’t fix. We had a nice relaxing evening and got up nice and early for a run this morning. Spanish class went well, as did video. After lunch we went kayaking ! All in all it’s been a pretty good 2 first days in Chile. hot hot heat. (he he. shallhorn)
Have any of you wondered what the Rio Claro looks like from inside the canyon? Here is a quick look into the Rio Claro from the eyes of New River Academy video class. Enjoy!
After we ate we all stood and told what we were thankful for. I forgot to say how thankful I am that I have the great opertunity to map Chile rivers and share with everyone information on the rivers for a geography project. So, I’m saying it now.
Here in Pucon I’ve been kicking back at our base in the quincho, and hanging out. When I’m not hanging around our base, I’m out exploring the town, (which is totally awesome by the way) and public busses, or kayaking. Yesterday I ran a waterfall at Ojos Del Caburgua. We went there once before and I was too afraid to run it. I had to hear everyone’s great stories of their run. All of their stories made me so envious that I had to do it for myself. I was so nervous and scared at the top, but then I finally ran it. When I ran it, I was sooo happy I had to do it again. Pucon has so much white water and is full of adventures. I can’t wait to see what will come next!
Although 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!
The 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.
“And then they were off again, marching into the distance with the sense of adventure burning in their eyes”
This holiday week we spent going back to our roots, to the simple things in life. To get to this place we had to travel on the bumpiest road imaginable. I don’t even know how we made it that far by car. The rawr of the motor pushing the van over another large rock, romping down the road until we finally reached the point we couldn’t go any further. We all groggily hopped out of the car and proceeded to hike a mile to reach our new temporary home. Many animals (cows, goats, and sheep) greeting us with their bleating cries as we walked past.
When we finally got inside it was as if we had stepped back years in time. A fire, and now our spirits keep the place warm. The whole place was constructed by the hands of a determined man. It feels as if you have walked into a wooden palace, with all the round logs for us to marvel at. A few sparse lights come on when the sun goes back into hiding. The murmur of the generator outside will be heard when this happens. Time to charge up those computers!
Our dinner is almost already for us around this time too, the wonderful aromas spreading throughout the whole lodge. One of the things we all love most about our meals is the fresh bread. It is all prepared by hand and then cooked under a fire, instead of our traditional oven. After dinner we all flop onto the beds around the large fire and play cards, tell stories, and work on our homework. I definitely think being here has brought us closer together. Now we’re even having Thanksgiving together; we’re like a giant family. I think we’re all very thankful for all the gifts and everything we’ve been given, especially the gift of attending a school as cool as this.
The river here is quite mind blowing, it seems as if everywhere we travel I see a different color blue and each is equally as beautiful. The water color here is a nice minty blue most likely because it was snowmelt only a few hours ago. Which means the water is definitely very cold, but the river is so worth having that nip on your nose for a couple of hours. The Achiebueno has large granite rocks throughout complementing the water color. It’s so fun twisting and turning through the boulder fields, finding new lines each time we run it.
As you can see, we’re in another spectacular place and this one suites the Thanksgiving holiday. I wish you all a Happy Turkey Day!
All in all it’s been a pretty good 2 first days in Chile. hot hot heat. (he he. shallhorn)
