This 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.
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
So 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!
In Pichilemu, Melina read some of Pablo Neruda’s work. It made us both feel as though we were swimming in the deep blue of words. So as always, we became inspired. This creative writing assignment consists of writing ”quotes” to correspond to a picture. The “quotes” were trying to bring out as much feeling and emotion as Neruda did. I hope you enjoy this set.
“The blissfulness in the virgin child’s eyes are the gateways to the heavens themselves, they alone we need to cherish in the darkness” – Taylor Cote
“As we flee from the notorious and accelerate our mind into the concealed, our embodiment ceases to imprison us down to the bondages of man” – Taylor Cote
“Then the steam proceeded to rise up and envelop all that was holy and ethical leaving merely the valiant paladin to uncover the way to the revelation” -Taylor Cote
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!
While we have been in the magical place of the Achiebueno, the creative writing class was inspired. The beauty captivated us to do an activity called “snapshots”. This is where for 5 minutes straight you write about a certain topic. All our topics have to do with the things around this location. The focus was more on figurative language and less on complete sentences. Enjoy!
Essence of Achiebueno
Perpetual blueness from the icey waters…alive icecubes…the cozy, earthy abode…smell of wood all around…a forest that once was…the long journey from the tahoe to our downy sleeping bags…trying on the mind…surrounded by jungle we become one of the colorful animals within…around the fire we crowd…cavemen once again…
The River
The atmosphere on earth…all the blue so teasing with it innocent lightness…nipping at my boat and blade…around the stone giants…hide and seek between them, careful not to get stepped on or flip while dodging…the excitement fleeing from my face replaced with amazement and adoration…the giant bumblebees flapping and cawing wildly above us as we bop down another mine field…
Fire and Light
The uncaged beast smoldering, hiding for his next strike on another lifeless log…greed and sloth encompass his existence…the beam of the glow eats away at the darkness only though where a glance may be placed, those few seconds the demons scurry to another ominous corner only to return when the gaze is gone…
The Sky
Racing each other to see the next beautiful vista…as if they haven’t seen it a hundred times before but they have the same excitement and love they have had for centuries for their mother…playfully tiptoeing over the mountain peaks then the dash to be the first to the next set…irritating the sun when they cover his proud gleam when people cannot enjoy and adore him any longer…galloping horses without masters, untamed yet know the way and have the keenest sense of direction…to be in Pegasus’ likeness, their aspiring dream…fleeting to our eyes never the same powdery blob…swirling and twirling a snowy ballroom dance…how it can turn angry in seconds and weep its sorrows on its mother, a poor child…
“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!
What an amazing week we’ve had at the Rio Claro! This place was a paddlers’ wonderland. It had the most perfect basalt bowls that these mouthwash blue waterfalls would pour into. Everyone had the greatest time launching off them-throwing free wheels, doing crazy boofs, super deep plugs, or even jumping off them. I definitely preferred staying in my boat and going for a ginormous boof. Both us photo and the video students were in heaven. It was a gorgeous place to shoot photos. It was another place where we were staying right next to the river. So after school we would put all our stinky kayaking gear on and go paddling.
At the hostel we were staying at we would have classes by the fire some mornings. It was a really cool experience having class there, all snuggled in our down jackets next to the fire. The food there was also so amazing. Its so fun to try all the new Chilean dishes. As always it was sad to leave but now we’re all ready for our next location which will hold even more new adventures.
They 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.
The magical little surf town of Pichilemu has enchanted us all. Everyone enjoys walking around to all the little shops, buying cakes or bargaining for their first pair of Alpaca socks. I think what has marveled us all the most is the amazing waves. Everyone is going so huge on all their tricks and getting a little sun on there face to prove it. This is my first time ocean surfing and I absolutely love it! Its all pretty exciting to be able to have classes in these exquisite little cafes, the green park, or sometimes even on the beach. The sand on these beaches is way different than any beach on the east coast I have been to. Its really dark, almost black sand, from the volcanoes I guess? Some people have even been lucky enough to see some of the rarer wildlife such as a baby sea lion poking around through the surf.
Yesterday, we had a scavenger hunt all through Pichilemu. It was so fun running around trying to complete all the funny tasks. Then afterwards we all went to surf at Punta de los Lobos, aka Point of the Wolves, (cue scary music). I saw some of the biggest ocean waves there, and I think one 2-3 star day there was enough to satisfy my curiosity. I know of course some of the daredevils in the group will want to go out to the point on those 5 star days though. As you can see we’re all not worrying and being happy in this lovely little surf town.
Here is the latest info on the Upper Maipo River run down here in Chile. The Upper Maipo section is definately big water.
From the start at the end of the Rio Yeso the Maipo is a full on river run. There are many large pour-overs as well as tons of huge waves. There is little to no flat water between the rapids with many little waves to play on as well as holes. The biggest main rapid is called French Curve. French Curve consists of a very large pour-over as well as two undercut rocks on river right. The whole rapid curves left hence the name french curve. At the pour over most of the water pushes right into the undercut rocks making the rapid very dangerous. Portage is strongly recommended. The run should not be taken lightly after french curve. The water is still huge and there are also many huge pour-overs and waves that are able to flip a boat at any moment.
Definite class 4-5
Don’t let the description scare you though, it is 100% fun.
