Clay Wright first descent of Rio Blanco

On our first descent January 25th, 2012 Clay Wright and I were pleasantly surprised to find a group of Canyoneers. A Puerto Varas company called Pachamagua does organized tours in the spring and summer months. www.pachamagua.com

We ran many of the drops together and they were nice and enough to let Clay toss his boat and rapel of the final 30 meter drop.

To arrive go east from Puerto Montt on the paved road towards the Puelche Ferry (over Seno de Reloncavi). Just before the Puente Chamiza turn left and travel north to small town of Correntoso. En route the road turns from pavement to gravel. In Correntoso turn left towards Lago Chapo and floow signs to Rio Blanco. It is 5.2 km to a parking area by a pisicultura. From here shoulder your boat and follow a nice boardwalk trail through a Tepa, Alerce and Cipress forest. After 10 minutes you come to a fork in the trail. The left fork goes to base of 30 meter falls and the right climbs up a series of steps to the national park entrance. From the guardaparque entrance continue walking another 10-15 minutes until you cross a bridge over the river. Once on the other side climb up a steep sloping slab where you will reach the top of the first 5-stage series of falls.

This river is a fun option for those taking the carretera Austral route to the Futaleufu River…

Do not be concerned if the river looks ridiculously low. It takes almost no water to run these drops and if I had to guess would say 5-10 CFS. Work your way down 1-2 km to the lip of the 30 meter falls . Here is the takeout but perhaps at higher flows this stout drop is runnable. The falls are bolted with anchors so rapping off is an option but it is also easy to simply walk back down the steps.

Summertime View of Calbuco Volcano below the takeout

Jumping off a portion of the 30 meter drop

Other nearby rivers include Petrohue, Negro, Blanco de Hornopiren, Bonito and Coihueco

GPS coordinates 41.388 degrees south latitude and 72.644 degrees longitude

IGM 1:50,000 topo map is titled Correntoso

]]> http://riversofchile.com/rio-blanco-de-calbuco/feed/ 0 http://riversofchile.com/lower-llancahue/ http://riversofchile.com/lower-llancahue/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:56:58 +0000 jared http://riversofchile.com/?p=1377
Jared Seiler dropping the “Suavemente” aka “Purty Thirty” at the start of the Lower section.

The Rio Llancahue located on the southeastern slope of Volcan Villarica is reached via Conaripe.  It is roughly an hour and a half drive from Pucon. It is easily found by following signs to the famous hot springs “Termas Geometricas”. The upper section is a well known classic class 4-5 creek run that was first descented by John Foss and Zack Cowan in 1995.  The upper section is most frequented by boaters and is a warm up run compared to what lurks downstream.
The middle section, contains some unrun rapids and is usually skipped for an easier take out option for the upper section located where the road is first visable from the river, after the “class 5″ rapid, often portaged river right during high water due to a must make eddy at the bottom.  Anyone who has run the middle section usually parked their car at the Termas Vergara, there is an unrun rapid you want to get out above.  The middle is considered a “park n huck” to the daring ones with intentions of running the biggest drop on the river which also marks the end of the middle section… or now… maybe the beginning of the lower section, and is arguably the most bad ass 60′ waterfall in Chile. The drop is called “Gerd’s drop”, first descented by Gerd Serrasolses in 2006. It has since been run by only 6 other huckers. Immediately following this monster drop is one of the cleanest 30′ waterfalls in Chile, called the “Suavemente” or the “Purty Thirty”. In the past when boaters would run this drop they would climb back out of the gorge in fear of what may be around the corner due to a diffucult to scout gorge that appeared to be unrunnable. Numerous groups throughout the years peered into the canyon through dense brush and steep cliffed walls, but no one ever mustered up the courage to drop in to this unknown.

Until, December 23rd 2011 a group of 5 brave kayakers, Jared Seiler, Evan Garcia, Ian Garcia, 3 of the 7 who have run Gerd’s drop, Jonny Meyers, and Anton Immler decided it was time to drop in for the first descent of the Lower section. Before dropping in the crew researched the section with Google Earth and found the run to be 9 km to Puente Llancahue, with the steepest part of the run being in the first 3km, in total dropping over 400 meters of gradient. Roughly 200Fpm, with the steepest 1km at probably around 400fpm. They figured if they could get through the first 1 km they could expect a gradual tapering off of the steep gradient. The day before the mission a crew led by Jared Seiler scouted most of the first 1 km after the “Purty thirty” which proved the findings from Google Earth to be the steepest and most continuous section. What the crew found was very promisingly runnable looking slides and waterfalls stacked between tiny catchable eddies and a potentially portageable left bank at a seemingly perfect water level. Jared informed the boys of the epicness of the run and made plans to drop in the next day. Coming from Pucon in the morning the crew put on below Gerd’s drop at 2 in the afternoon on a bright sunny day. Starting with the “Purty Thirty” they got out to scout on the left. A runnable 15′ first slide to autoboof put them in a must make eddy before a very continuous looking section. On the 2nd descent a boater missed this eddy and was forced to run the succeeding drops blind…The boys spent about an hour scouting an approximately 200′ long slide with a technical 2 part lead in rapid. After much debate Jared Seiler decided to go for it and ran the entire slide cleanly until spinning around backwards and flipping in the last 20′ of the slide. After a quick roll and celebration he caught the small must make eddy on the right at the bottom before another long slide. After a thumbs up, Evan Garcia and Anton Immler followed Seiler’s line with a little carnage of their own, but mostly cleaned it. Ian and Jonny opted for a seal launch half way down the slide which slightly tamed the rowdy beast. The lead in drops to this slide become worse at lower levels and a boater was badly pinned on a separate descent a week later in the lip of the first drop for over 20 minutes before he could be rescued. The entire slide can be portaged on the left. Seiler decided to call the slide “La Longaniza”.

Graham Seiler running the bottom half of  “La Longaniza”

The crew briefly scouted the next slide which they ran down a left channel where the river is split by an island with both left and right channels looking runnable and the crew chose the left which ended in a 15′ waterfall. The line turned out to be pretty stout and was named “Survivor slide” aka “fight club”. The right channel has been run since and is equally challenging.  Immediately following the 15′ waterfall the crew caught an eddy on the left above the last slide of the steepest section where their shuttle driver awaited with a rope in case someone was swept into the last slide that ended with a heinous hydraulic and boxed in walls. The crew called this one “the Gambler”. This drop has since been run. A short pool led to the start of a section later named, the “Quality and Quantity” section which begins with a 6′ boof run down the middle then a series of 2 class 4 boogie water sections broken up by a calm section and proceeds into another continuous rapid which Evan nearly ran blind before catching a small eddy to have a look. Good thing because this rapid had one of the ugliest siphons on the run followed immediately by a 6′ weir hole. Evan ran a clean line down the left and boofed the hole in the middle. The siphon on river right was later named “cancha tomate” and the following weir hole “wachito culiado”. Best scouted and portaged on the right. Small eddies on either sides afterwards allowed a set up to run the next 6′ horseshoe hole boofing right of center named “puta la wea”. Continuing mostly down the left through class 4 boogie you come to a drop run left under two big old growth logs perched in an A-frame position. Another half a km brought the crew to a narrow slot boof into a fairly large pool marking the end of the “QQ” section. Continuing roughly a half a kilometer you come to a rapid where the water ramps off the left wall through a fluffy hole. More boogie arrives at a manky slot rapid portaged on the right. Potentially run right. More boogie gradually mellowing out brought the group to 2 stout looking converging channels dropping into a big hole partially backed by a boulder on the right. Scout and portaged left. This drop was later run on the 2nd descent down the left channel and was named “the shitter” upon finding a toilet seat lid at the bottom The river continues at a fun pace and gradually goes flat. At this point the 1st crew thought they were finished with the run, but 4 more 15′ drops awaited downstream along with a landslide that diverted the river through a forest! The first 15′ after the “false run out”was only run by Evan on the first descent where a bad line on the left through a manky pile of rocks coined the name “ass banger”. Jared ran the drop on the 2nd descent with a more thought out line that turned out better off the middle clearing the rocks in the landing zone. More boogie water leads quickly into the 2nd of the last four 15′. Called “el nombre de mi polola” or “La Pacha Mama” one of the best drops on the run. A stout lead in down the left splits two directions with both 15′ drops on either side proved runnable. Big logs piled in the middle between the two falls characterizes the drop. This drop is difficult to see coming and is best scouted by scraping over a far right channel into a small eddy on the right. This drop may be mandatory, but if you feel the need to portage you probably shouldn’t be on the run. Wood could be an issue in this drop in which case a throw and go portage from the logs could be done or maybe hellish bush whacking through the woods on the right would be the best option. Soon after this falls is the landslide forest. Run cautiously through a maze of trees and strainers on the left. More boogie…seriously very little flat water on this run, brings you to a super gnar 15′ falls into a tunnel like siphon on the right, run only by scraping down the FAR LEFT, as far from this potential boater swallowing siphon as possible, one of the nastiest siphons I’ve seen! More boogie water leads to the last drop, 15′ down the middle boof with a possible plug line on the left. Dubbed the 4.20 drop.  Finally, finishing off with 2 km of shallow run out to Puente Llancahue. A gauge for the run can be judged by the middle bridge embutment 3 inches showing on the river right corner of the lowest concrete slab is optimal.  If water is over this the run will become very dangerous due to washed out eddies. The first descent was done in a very low water year in late December. During a regular season I would imagine this section will be runnable in late January. The river holds water very well and if you think it may be too high don’t go!!! (I believe higher water descents will be possible in the future- but not unless you know the run very well-as you will not be able to stop in some of the steep sections).  You can also judge the flow at the put-in by looking at the lip of Gerd’s drop. If water is spilling over a right channel at the lip it is probably too high. This run requires class 5+ skill level with exceptional eddy catching skills. Arguably, the stoutest steep creek run in Chile! Cuidado mother F@*&er$!!!
photos taken by Andraz Krpic

Check out this video with the 1st Descent

Located in the comuna de Cunco, Region de la Araucania, Chile´s 9th region… A low elevation run flowing off the north western flank of the permanent snowfields of Nevados de Solipulli with adequate water levels in the winter-early spring months from August to mid October or after a period of several days of substantial rain. This river is a tributary of the Rio Allipén.

Typical boulder garden style rapids

To reach the river from Temuco on ruta 5 take the paved road east 59 km to Cunco or from Pucon you reach Cunco easiest via the paved road from Villarrica to Freire 55 km then paved road 57 km to Cunco.

Once in Cunco go east 9.1 km and turn right at sign to Curacalco. Continue 2.4 km to the T intersection passing Allipén river bridge en route. Turn right and in 1.3 k you come reach a fork in the road. Go right and after a few hundred meters you come to a bridge over the Curacalco. The river is braided here so continue to the second bridge and make this your takeout.. Return to previous fork in road and head upstream 4 km to the suspended bridge over the river. It is possible at this point to get to river level, but due to the falls landing in the cave rapid immediately beneath the bridge, you should shoulder boats and head a few hundred meters downstream to find a way to get into the canyon (it is real bitch!!) The reward will be an un-run class 5 stretch with 3 significant rapids. Once you drop in there is no portaging or turning back so scout carefully before committing. We spent 3 hours scouting on our first descent and understood each of the 3 rapids and where to go but we simply gave up on trying to find a way down to the river. I am sure there is a way with rappelling being the last option…

As an alternative return the car about 1 km downstream to just after the second farmhouse. From here there is one gate to cross and a grassy road to the river.

From this point down the river is a fun, continuous 250 FPM boulder garden. We had low flow of around 200 CFS on our Nov10, 2011 first descent but it was not scrappy until 2 km downstream where a piscicultura is taking water from the river. Ideal flow would be 300-500 CFS

If you put in near the bridge elevation 570 meters, the first km will be a canyon with average gradient in excess of 70 m/km then it tapers out to 50 m/km for 2 km and final km at 30 m/km. Takeout bridge is at 370 meters.
put

8 meters falls landing in Cave immediately under bridge

First Drop in canyon stretch

Second drop in canyon that feeds right into third

Aerial view of third drop-the 10 meter falls

10 meter drop viewed from below

Local kids near takeout

Entry rapid on Curacalco

IGM Topo map is titled Villa Garcia G-085

GPS coordinates Put-in 38.943329°, 71.872962° Take-out 38.931738°, 71.908976°

Other nearby rivers include Codihue, Calbuco, Truful Truful, Trafampulli and Quepe

Approach to the falls

Roger and Emilio scouting the falls

To reach the put in from Temuco take ruta 5 north to Lautaro then to Curacautín. At the eastern edge of the town follow signs to RUTA INTERLAGOS or Parque Nacional Congillio. Follow the road until you reach Puente Blanco Del Sur. Immediately after the bridge turn right on a gravel road and follow it 400 meters until you reach the wooden bridge over Captren. Put in here by seal launching off the bank.

To reach the takeout continue approximately 5-6 km downstream and find a gravel road to the right that leads to the old bridge over the Cautín River.

On the 6 km run the first 2 km has swift moving clear water passing through a densely forested mini canyon. Some class 3 rapids quickly turn to the class 5+ Captren falls. At 7 meters in height these falls need just the right flow to safely make it to the lip with multiple holes, fallen trees and volcanic razor rocks guarding the approach.

After either running or portaging (a bit difficult but possible) the falls the river enters a 30 meter deep canyon and within a few meters enters the big water of the Cautín.

Other nearby rivers: Quepe, Truful Truful, Alpehue, Queupude, Calbuco, Blanco del Sur, Cautín.

I would recommend a 1:50,000 scale topo map of the area titled Curacautín G-063

From Pucon cross the Trancura over Puente Meterenehue and continue 8 KM and make the turn to Huife. From here it is 4.8 KM thru town of San Pedro to takeout bridge over Coilaco. To reach put in continue towards Huife 500 meters and take right turn towards Laguna San Jorge. Go approximately 2 km to where bridge crosses the creek.

It is 1 KM of meandering flatwater from here to “duck and huck” which is a 9-10 meter falls that requires you to duck at the lip under a tree growing out horizontally. The approach to the falls needs to be portaged due to log jam so best to seal launch in just above the lip.

Below the falls the river passes through a colihue thicket (bamboo) than begins a screaming 1 KM super continuous rapid with almost no possibilities of any eddy. Be very very careful in this section due to logs and by no means flip over in the razor sharp jumble of rocks.

an option instead of taking out at bridge is to continue another 2 plus km down to Liucura and run several km’s of nice class 3 whitewater to takeout at Puente Liucura.

I am going to call the creek class 5 but not sure if that is really the right call. Volume is low around 150-300 CFS and creek is usually running after intense periods of rain, in winter, or in peak spring run off (October-november and sometimes December)

Creek was found and first run by Robby Dastin on a scouting mission in 2004.

Nearby rivers include Desague, Carhuello, turbio, Palguin, Trancura, Liucura, Maichin

Other nearby rivers include the Curringue, Gol Gol, San Pedro, Rininahue and Petrohue

All fotos from “Demshitz”

Slightly Ghetto hot springs

Ian Garcia Looking into slot canyon

Approach to big falls

Jared Seiler @ Double falls

Evan Garcia

The falls changed recently making the drop more runnable. 1st descented by LJ Groth and Trip Jennings before the geological change. Previous drop was a 50+ foot boof in a left channel(notice trickle of water in picture), only runnable at extremely high water, onto a boily shelf falling another 3o+ feet. Now, since the shelf fell out there is a line in the right channel(pictured sloping ramp) which is safer at low water. At higher water an undercut wall at the bottom on river left comes in to play. Falls has been run by putting in directly above in a small eddy on river right, peel out and fall.  Evan-Nilahuemichael-downstream view

“Feet first” foto by John Mattson

The Palguín never gets too low so apart from a period of high water in the winter/spring months it provides an attractive option for year round paddling.

Pete Iscaro final drop of Tres Huevones foto Chris Larsen

To get to the put in drive East from Pucon 7km and turn right on the international road towards Curarrehue From here continue for another 10 – 15km until you see a sign for the Termas Palguín then turn right. The gravel road (which might be paved in near future) heads up the drainage. From this point set the odometer on your vehicle to “0″.

At the lip of 70 footer foto by Eva Luna Luna Ramirez

The traditional upper put in is 6.9 KM up this road. The parking area is marginal and is just downstream of the 25 meter Salto Palguín which as of this date still has not been run. From here walk across the road and look for the small, steep trail that will lead you down to a small natural bridge spanning the river. Cross the arch bridge and seal launch in on the other side. There is an optional put in on the other side of the river thru Ben May’s property. Ben is the owner of Kayak Chile and his storefront can be found on the main street of O’Higgins in center of Pucon. Kayak Chile

There are four distinct drops on the run. The first is called “Tres Huevones” and consists of 3 drops with part three ending in a 3 meter falls. The second rapid, “Eva Luna” is a 5-6 meter falls at the end of a slot canyon. The third rapid is another falls called “Ecstasy” and has a 7 meter vertical drop with runs on on either the left or right of the center rock island. The fourth drop is called “feet first” and is run in the center slot which is a sloping 6 meter sluiceway whose width is slightly more than that of a kayak. Downstream is an almost never run, double-drop falls. Many choose to throw or lower their boats off the falls and jump the 15 meters into the deep pool below. Do not miss the eddy on river left above this falls.

Steve Melnick Ectasy Falls foto Chris Larsen

Following the large double drop the river continues through class 2-3 rapids for another kilometer until it passes under a small road bridge. The rapid leading into and under the bridge is known as squeezebox. This is a good takeout and has car access. It is slightly less than 2 KM by road to this point from Upper put in. From here one can continue on what was once called the Middle section if big waterfalls are on the menu.

Juanito Ugarte Upper Palguín Foto by Chris Larsen

This section is not to be taken lightly and should be scouted before proceeding. The first rapid is a long twisting micro gorge that in the recent years has been clogged with wood and is therefore portaged. Below are the large signature waterfalls of the Palguín. First up is a powerful 8 meter falls landing in a large hole. A moving pool then leads into the heart of the run. Until 2006 three linked waterfalls ranging in height from 3m, 13 meters and 17 meters were stacked directly on top of one another. A mystical geological phenomenon occurred that caused the second two drops to fuse into on massive 24 meter falls. The new falls was first probed in February 2007 by Ian
Garcia, Chris Korbulic and Rodrigo Tuschner of Kayak Pucon. From here the river continues dropping at a class four rate until meeting up with the road/takeout point another Kilometer downstream.

Evan Garcia huckin’ the MP

Note: 4 KM up the Palguín road one comes to a future tea room on river left. This is an access point for spectators wanting to see the big falls. If the land owner is there expect to get charged for entrance.

Ian Garcia

For more fotos of the falls and other rivers click on this link Ian Garcia’s Blog

Chris Larsen going big on the Panqui

To reach the river drive 34 KM east on paved road to Curarrehue. I KM before reaching town turn left and cross over the Trancura river on a bridge. To reach the normal takeout turn left and follow the road downstream along the Trancura for approximately 3 KM until you come to a bridge over the Panqui. Usually this is the end of the road as the gate is locked on other side of bridge. This is the takeout point.

Christie Glissmire Rio Panqui foto by Mike Deacon

To reach the put in return the 3 KM on same road you just followed and then turn left and follow signs towards Termas de Panqui. It is 15 KM on a gravel road to the Termas which are a highly reccomended addition to the river trip. there is an upper streatch of river that starts just below the Termas which I have not done. If this top section is running the bottoms ection will likely be too high. All I know of this approx 8 KM upper stretch is that Josh Lowry lost a kayak on their first descent.

The lower stretch can be reach from two access points both of which are 2 KM apart. I would suggest the lower access which avoids almost 2 KM of flatwater. To reach this point you make a turn to the left after climbing for about 6 KM. I recall the road immediately drops down hill and winds its way to the river. There is a bridge at the river which collapsed in 2005 and last time I was there a truck which had falled from the bridge was still in the river. From this point the river immediately enters a mini canyon. Laying not too far ahead is a 25-30 meter falls. To the best of knowledge this has not yet been run but it is only a matter of time so take note all waterfall junkies. the falls can be portaged on the left on an excelent trail that wraps around and back down to the river to the base of a second 15 plus meter cascade that follows the big falls.

Panqui drops foto by Chris Larsen

A few class five falls/drops can be run that bring you to a runnable 10 meter falls that can be scouted on the right. Be careful with this falls as the current at the base pushes boats into an undercut wall. After the falls the river is in a box canyon but with no significant drops. The river mellows as it passes some homes in Reliacura Bajo and it feels like the action is done. This is not the case. The river changes character and enters boulder garden rapids including an easy class five called Araña.

There are two ways to reach the takeout. The first and quickest is to follow the paved road from Carburgua. About 1 KM after passing the entrance to Ojos De Carburgua you turn left at El Cristo bus stop. You will cross a bridge over the Deague and and go about two km on gravel road then turn right and drive approx 1 KM and pass a cementary. The road starts climbing uphill and you will come to a sign for Salto Copihue. Continue for about another 2 KM and along the way you will pass signs for Salton Bellavista. You will pass an old pickup truck perched in the trees on the right and about 200 meters later you will have first glimpse of the river about 15 meters below. At this point you want to park. There is barely space to park and allow other occasional cars to pass as they head to theirs homes upstream. You can run the creek when it looks to be barely floatable at levels I estimate to be as low as 75 CFS.

To reach the takeout return downstream 3 km to the T intersection. Go right about 1-1/2 KM until you come to the bridge over the Carhuello. An optional way to reach

Juanito Ugarte Part 1 Salto Javali

The takeout from Pucon is to take the Pasarela quelhue bridge over the Trancura and travel all the way up the Liucura on the road to Carburgua. This is a popular bike trip and pretty but somewhat slower.

The put in elevation here is 600 meters. The takeout is approx. 4 KM downstream at 300 meters.

The beginning of the kayak run has a few hundred meters of boulder gardens and some channelized rapids. When the foot bridge comes into view you need to get out some 30 meters upstream and portage a nasty 20 meter falls (that lands on a rock) on a well defined trail. you will walk over a small side stream and through a gate. Continue walking uphill. The first turn to the left will take you to the base of the falls which provides a good view but not a good place to get back in your boat. To reach a good put in spot walk along the tree line and look for a trail down to the river. When you get there put in wherever you are comfortable. There are lots of steep boulder choked rapids so some may choose to continue walking downstream an additional 200 meters.
Once on the water you will soon come to Salto Javali which consists of two 5 meter falls. After a few more rapids comes the monster 4 part 25 meter drop that until our trip on November 30, 2005 had always been portaged. Gigo Castillo missed the last eddy and disappeared over the first drop backwards. By some miracle he survived the ensuing carnage without a scrap. the first drop is a two meter falls into a robust hole that immediately feeds into an almost vertical seies of slides. At the base of the slides you have time for 1-2 strokes before the big 6-7 meter falls which you need to enter on the left for fear of decapitation on the bottom right. The base of the falls are ina cauldron which exits to the left with another 3 meter drop. The faint of heart can portage parts 1-3 and seal launch into the Cauldron for part 4.

Rio Carhuello

After seeing Gigo had survived the drop Juanito Ugarte lined up and ran the drop. Word immediately spread around town that this drop was open for business and within days hardcore boaters were testing their limits on this drop. Below this are a few more good drops then one comes to the entrance to Salto Copihue. To the best of my knowledge this has not yet been run. It is best portaged from above on river left by climbing up to a house and the road itself before returning to the river for an addition 3/4 km runout to the car.

Scouting Salto Copihue

Carhuello Falls

Lower part of 7 meter falls

The river can only be run in late spring and early summer after significant rain or snowmelt. Ideal time is usually late november and December. The run is approximately 2 KM long and drops from 600 meters to 475 for an average of 62.5 m/km or 315 FPM.

Daniel on approach to waterfall that can not be portaged

The river has a low volume steep-creek feel with a little bit of everything including a classic Califonia style slide, waterfalls, and dozens of steep technical drops. The river can be run at low and medium flows but would be suicidal at high flows.

Catching air on the “California slide”

To reach the put in leave Pucon and head east towards Argentina. After you cross the bridge over the Turbio stay straight and do not take turn on the international road to Argentina. You will be on the road to Lago Caburgua. After 7 KM turn right on the now paved road towards Huife. In approximately 13 KM you twill signs for a turn to left to Parque Huerquehue or Tres Saltos. Do not turn here but continue 1 KM more to huife and take the next left following signs to Lefincul (if you reach termas de Quimey-Co you have gone to far so return and make the next turn). You will cross a bridge over the Lefuncul/Liucura river. Stay straight and you wills tart up the Nevado drainage. Park just before the road starts to get real steep. you will not see the river at this point but when you climb out later you will find your vehicle.

Peruvian Juanito Ugarte
From the way to the put in is obvious. Go up the incredibly steep dirt road approx 2 km until it crosses the the bridge over the Nevado. You can park a 100 meters on the other side of the bridge as it begins its first switchback. The put in is just upstream of the bridge and offers an adrenaline packed jump start to the intimidating canyon below. The run is full contact class 5+ boating so bring your elbow pads, your rope and your A game.

The first canyon has about 6 difficult rapids including one difficult portage. After the frist canyon there are some boulder drops which eventually lead into the california style slide which feeds into a 6 meter falls. The base of the falls is a narrow canyon that feeds into another rapid which I recall can not be scouted? Be careful is this section as I have seen a hole force people to swim when the creek had water. After this it is a blur of rapids including a mandatory 7 meter falls.

Entrance to the 22 teacups

takes 2 hours to hike in
Class 3 / 4 waterfalls

Ethan Green 22 saltos

Black and white on 22 Saltos

Sometimes you leave your boat behind and do a gainer