Matt Smink (NRA head of school) runs a drop on the Vientidos section of the Rio Claro (c) David Gorski
We’ve just emerged from the wilderness of the Radal Siete Tazas National Reserve which is home to one of the coolest rivers on earth, the Rio Claro. The Rio Claro boasts classic Chilean waterfall runs such as Siete Tazas or Seven Teacups. The Seven Teacups is a series of seven clean waterfalls, each of which lands in a calm pool of clear water. These “teacups” are held up by bumpy, gray basalt rock. The Rio Claro cuts it’s way through multiple canyons like this in the Siete Tazas National Reserve. This includes one of my new favorite whitewater runs, the Vientidos (shown on the right). This section consists of twenty two waterfalls and ends within a short walk’s distance of the place we were staying. I learned a lot about kayaking and photography between the walls of these canyons in the four days I spent here, and I had a lot of great experiences in the surrounding wilderness as well.
A view of the Rio Claro watershed (c) David Gorski
We also spent some time hiking the trails of this national park in the heart of the Andes Mountains. Lorenzo shared much of his knowledge of Chilean wildlife with us, and I was really stoked on the photo opportunities of this area. At one point we were lucky enough to spot a puma cruzing around in the woods, and just a few seconds too slow to capture it on photo/video.
Unlike many great rivers in Chile, fortunately this one is protected from hydroelectricity plans by the National Park. Despite my basic Spanish skills, I could detect an enviromentally conservative instict amongst the Chileans in this area. Everyone was constantly gathered around the river during the day to keep clean and cool in the summer heat, a part of their culture which we quickly adapted. I will remember the time I spent in this wilderness area for the rest of my life and I think Katie, Kyle, Matt, and Lorenzo will too.
Lorenzo Andrez (NRA Spanish teacher) dives into the Rio Claro (c) David Gorski
David- The gray basalt rock looks like it’s from another planet. Very interesting. The watershed photo is beautiful with the flower in the foreground. Back to the weird gray basalt rock, what makes it that way, is it super old or super young geologically speaking…or is it volanic? It looks sort of like a tunnel.
Mom
The photo of the spanish teacher’s dive looks so perfect-a great dive(but dangerous!…no head/neck injuries please!) and the water looks so fresh and clean.
Mom.
….Really, really enjoy the blogs, pictures and articles.
Mom
David-
Love the night photos, especially the one of the pineapple/palm tree in the middle of the road. All have really good compostion, also really like the one w/ the red slatted roof overhang and the yellow building. Getting a lot of use out of the camera hey?
Mom