Vertical ramparts of columnar basalt tower above the Río Colorado, the Lontué’s major tributary. Compared to the Lontué, the Colorado is cold, turbid, and a much greater whitewater challenge. Coursing through sequentially layered lava flows run amok, the river cuts a sinuous swath through one of Chile’s coolest canyons.
Excellent rapids are found throughout the run, [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Region VI, chile, class 4, class 5 | No Comments »
This Río Claro was the former training site of the U.S. Olympic slalom kayak team. The gringos are gone, but a few of the slalom gates remain upstream of Puente Los Queñes. Even if you’re not a racer, it’s fun to eddy-hop your way through the intermittent boulder-garden rapids. If you paddle below Puente [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Region VI, chile, class 3 | No Comments »
How many Rio Claros are there in Chile? Quien sabe. The conquistadors could have been a little more creative with their claros. For example, how about: Muy Claro, Tan Claro, Clarito, Clarissimo, or the Mapuche word “Aluminé,” meaning “one sees into it very deeply”? Gringo-style nomenclature isn’t any better. For example, the North Fork of [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Region VI, chile, class 3 | No Comments »
For ambitious boat hikers, Cajón de González is an outstanding whitewater gem featuring adrenaline packed rapids from start to finish. Below two runnable 3 m waterfalls on Estero de Las Tragedias, the action heats up when the canyon walls narrow. The crux of the trip occurs in the middle of the run, where the gradient [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Region VI, chile, class 5 | No Comments »
The lower Volcán is a much easier version of the upper run. Although this turbid river maintains its steep, continuous gradient, the rapids lack the intensity of those upstream. The best drops, located near the take-out, never get more difficult than class IV.
Refer to the directions of the upper Maipo to get in the area. [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Santiago Metropolitan Region, chile, class 4 | No Comments »
The upper Volcán is a cold, raging, silty flush plummeting out of the high Andes. Tight and pushy, its churning waters feature some of the most continuous action in Chile. Emplaced from landslides, the rapids seem to be in perpetual flux in a riverbed strewn with rocks that can be heard rockin’ and rollin’ along [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Santiago Metropolitan Region, chile, class 5 | No Comments »
This Río Colorado, one of 37 by the same name in central Chile, is a churning quagmire down to its confluence with the Río Aconcagua. It is a good run to do when Salto del Saldado is frighteningly high. Tight and continuous, the rapids have few eddies and require frequent scouting from shore. The most [...]
Posted on September 6th, 2009 by John Foss (posthumously)
Filed under: Region V, chile, class 4 | No Comments »
