A Catarafter's Guide to Chile, Part 1 by Mark Johnson
Last spring I was fortunate enough to go along on a trip to whitewater Heaven. Myself and two other rafters spent 7 weeks traveling through Chile rafting, sightseeing, and just generally having one heck of a good time. It was an incredible trip, and now I'm hooked on South America as an excellent winter travel destination. The following is only a brief description of what you will find in this magical place.
General: Chile is located along the Pacific side of South America, and is probably the most developed of the South American countries . In climate it is very similar to the west coast of the United States, and in fact it seems very similar to the Pacific coast from about San Diego to Vancouver BC. The country is only 120 miles wide, but is 1800 miles long. The north is desert, the rest ranges from arid to rain forest. The native language is Spanish, or Castellano as the Chileans call it. Chileans are descended from Spanish and Indians, and are a dark-haired, dark-skinned beautiful people. They are also very outgoing and friendly. The scenery is awesome, since the snow-capped Andes are almost always in view. There are hundreds of volcanoes, many still active. I spent seven weeks in Chile and only ran seven rivers, there are several more that we had to bypass due to lack of time. Also, almost every river we did run had additional sections that could be run. I think that if you were here with a good cataraft, an IK, and a mountain bike you would be perfectly set up. And there is so much to do besides rafting. Far southern Chile is also a world class destination for hikers and climbers, and there are 1800 miles of beach to explore too. Remember, it is summer down there during our winter. Well, on to the river descriptions. (Note: Our group contained one 12' Hyside raft, one 14' Hyside Raft, and one AIRE Ocelot! I've rated the rivers based on the numbers of flips we had.)
The Maipo: The Maipo river is the closest whitewater run to the capital city Santiago, and is where many people start their boating in Chile. It is a large volume river, and is brown with glacial runoff. There are many sections that can be run, in fact there is about 30-40 miles of runnable whitewater. Unfortunately, these sections are separated by several unrunnable spots that would be long portages. The most often run section is near the town of Santa Barbara, about an hour drive from the airport in Santiago. This three hour run is Class III-IV, and runs through a mostly open canyon with good big waves and holes. This is no wilderness, but is still great fun. The water is cold, like most Chilean rivers since the snows it comes from are so close. But the weather is hot since Santiago lies at about the same latitude as Los Angeles. The Maipo also has 3 runnable tributaries, the Colorado, the Yeso, and the Volcon. The Volcon and Yeso are small rivers suitable for kayaks or small rafts, the Colorado can be run with larger boats. All feature good Class III-V water. We ran only the Maipo, but we explored the other tributaries and they are certainly worth another look. (One flip)
The Tinguiririca: This was my favorite river in Chile after the Futaleufu. It is about a half day drive south of Santiago on the Pan-American Highway. It also involves a long drive up a very rough dirt road, but is well worth the effort. Again the water is opaque with glacial flour, which makes reading the Class IV-V water difficult. There are again many possible runs here, the river has about 70 kilometers (55 miles) of whitewater, divided up by lots of Class V+ to VI and portages. We did two different sections here, the first was a kickass Class IV-V run from the Rio Portillo to our camp, about 15 kilometers of nonstop action with a gradient of 125 fpm. The other run is a 30 kilometer stretch that is mostly road less in a beautiful valley with great Class IV water. The scenery here is outstanding since you are so close to the Andes. Here also, as with the Maipo, it is a desert climate so there are cacti all around and the weather is hot! We also drove several kilometers up this river to a Termas, or hot springs, where after hiking up to about 12,000 ft you can look at a bunch of dinosaur tracks in a hillside. (No flips, one 10 minute holeride.)
The Teno: The Teno is one drainage south of the Tinguiririca, and is a little smaller and easier. It also boasts great scenery and lots af whitewater. The run we did started off Class V, eased to braided Class III in the middle, and had some nice Class IV at the end. It was also a long run, about 3 hours. There are again several other sections that could be run if you had the time, the right boat, and big you-know-whats. The run ends in the town of Los Quenes, where we ran into some gringos from Boise who have a kayak school here. They also run the Claro, a small crystal clear tributary of the Teno. The Claro would be a great IK run, maybe next year. (No flips)
The Lontue: This river was a special find. It is not listed in local guides, and in fact few people even know it exists. But it is a great whitewater run. The problem is that it is all on private land. All the access is controlled by a farmer who owns the surrounding territory. We had been told of the river by the guys in Los Quenes, so we went to the place to try to get in. After a long conversation with the farmer, he agreed to let us raft it if we took him along. What a great piece of luck! This river is beautiful. The water is clear and green, and the river is totally unspoiled and clean. It is almost all Class III-IV, but is very fun with great play spots and outstanding scenery. Many birds also nest along this river, the contrast between the white egrets and the black cormorants is beautiful. We camped here at the beginning of the river, where two large tributaries come together. These also look like good runs, only a couple kayakers have run them so far. (No flips)
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A Catarafter's Guide to Chile Part 2.
Rio Bio-Bio and Beyond.
The Bio-Bio. By now everyone and their mother has heard of the Bio-Bio, a world class whitewater river. This river is unlike other Chilean rivers in that it runs mostly north-south, not east-west. This means it is much longer than most rivers in Chile. It is also a big river, ranging up to 20,000 CFS or more in runoff. The scenery here is also magnificent, with many volcanoes and beautiful waterfalls. We started off with an easy 3 day trip on the upper Bio. This is an easy run with scenery very similar to the Middle Fork of the Salmon. It is also the only overnight run we did, the rivers here are mostly too short for good multi-day runs. The water is easy Class III, and we had a great time relaxing in the sun. Below this run, we unloaded gear, and the next day ran Nireco canyon. This is the big stuff, with famous rapids like Jugbuster, Lost Yak, and Lava South. These big Class V's are mostly pool drop, with several good Class 4's also in a unbelievably beautiful canyon. Below this is the Cien Saltos, or 100 Waterfalls stretch. This is a big water Class IV run through another awesome canyon. There are easily more than 100 waterfalls here, along with lots of great big fun drops to play in. Below here boating is prohibited, as the new dam has started backing up water. The famous Royal Flush gorge is no longer runnable, and soon the Cien Saltos will also be a part of the past. A real shame. A great way to spend a day off the river is to hike up Volcon Callaqui, an active volcano along the Bio. It is a beautiful hike up through the Araucaria trees to above the tree line where you can see numerous other cones and peaks. After 7 days here we were exhausted so we headed south to the Chilean Lake District for some much needed R & R at Pucon. (Too many flips to count)
The Trancura. The Trancura is the busiest river in Chile. Since it lies very close to Pucon, the Chilean playground of the rich, many outfitters run several trips on it daily. They charge about $10, but pack up to 10 people in a 14' raft. The Trancura has two runs, the Upper and the Lower. The Lower run is Class II-III, and is where all the outfitters are. The Upper Trancura is also run commercially, but is Class IV-V with a portage. I ran it by myself in a driving rainstorm, and found it very exciting. It is a pool and drop run, and the drops are very big! Also, the river lies in a rain forest, and the banks are very lush and green. The water also is green, and warmer than the more glacial runs since it comes out of a lake upstream. It is a fun run, would have been a lot more fun if it had ever stopped raining. This is also a great place to hang out in the summer, lots of people and lots to do. There are many beautiful lakes with black and white sand beaches, many hot spring resorts, and of course Volcon Villaricca hanging over it all spewing out smoke in the day and red fire at night. (No flips)
The Futaleufu. This is the last river we ran, and was definitely the best. It is a step above anything else I have run. This is world class whitewater on a big scale. The water is almost unearthly in color, and is so clear you can see the bottom 20 feet down. The scenery is unreal, big peaks and glaciers everywhere. But it is the whitewater that brings people here. The river volume is about 15,000 CFS or more, and is mostly pool drop with several long flat stretches. But the drops are huge, long Class V-V+ affairs with lots of maneuvering and huge hydraulics. I have never seen holes as big as these, some are certain death. (Imagine the Thompson with drops like Boulder Drop.) We were the only private rafters here, in fact we were the only private rafters we saw the whole trip. Some outfitters run the Futaleufu, they use 16'+ rafts, and have at least one safety kayak or cataraft per raft, the river is that demanding. The upper section is the most difficult, and starts with Class V Inferno Canyon. This canyon is vertical and about a mile long, with several Class V's and no hiking out. Below this the river flattens out for a few kilometers of great scenery to the Zeta, the next Class V. The entire river does a "Z" in a small 30' wide slot. We ran it, and mostly managed to keep upright, but what a rush! The next big drop below this is the Throne Room, which is Class V+ and which we did not run. I couldn't see any lines that didn't put me in a monster hole. We tied the oars on and let the boats run it alone. Below the Throne room are many huge Class IV drops to the confluence with the Rio Azul, an access point and the end of the upper run. The lower run starts here, and has swift flat water to the Terminator. This drop is so long we had to scout twice. It is also one of the biggest, and is always snuck down the left (a Class V sneak!). Below this is another big drop, then the Himilayas. These are a series of huge standing waves that are very close together. The waves are easily over 20' high, and it is very difficult to run through them all and stay upright or in your seat, but they are lots of fun. Then more easy water to the Kitchen, another big long Class 4+. Below here the big drops are more frequent, and this was my favorite stretch. The named drops are Pipeline, Mundaca, Mas or Menos, and Casa de Piedra. I was 1 for 3 in Casa de Piedra, another long difficult drop. In fact, I made it through 6 weeks in Chile without one flip, and flipped twice my first day on the Futaleufu! After 5 days on the water we were too tired to continue, and it was time to head back to Santiago and home. (Mucho flips.)
Other things to do in Chile: There are a million other things to do in this beautiful country. Since it is summer during our winter, all outdoor activities are going strong. Chile has many large national parks set aside for trekkers or day-hikers. The central Lake District has many beautiful lakes to stay at, either camping or at a resort.
Final Word. Chile is a great place to visit, even if you don't boat. The scenery is outstanding, and the people are very friendly and beautiful. There are many national parks and scenic areas to hike, and they have an excellent and cheap bus system. Castellano is easy to learn, and even knowing a little will get you around. I definitely plan on going back, if not to boat then to hike and bike. There is a dam proposed for the Futaleufu, and if you are a serious boater this is one river that should not be missed.
I read Scott Schaefer's story, which included the paragraph about Dan and our trip. Here's what happened to our group (the 4 kayakers):
We came from the Seattle area to do a self-support run. Two of us in the group had run the river last year at just under 7 ft. and felt we would be okay at this level, but still had some apprehension. We ran from Cape Horn to Dagger Falls the first day. We had a few problems, so it was a very long day and we were all very tired that night. One of our boaters swam at a drop (name unknown) before Sluicebox. The drop starts with a hard left-hand bend and has several holes near the middle/right side at the top. He had gone into a hole against the right side and couldn't get a good position for his paddle, so he swam. He ended up on the right side of the river and his boat on the left. His paddle could not be immediately found. About 1 to 2 hours later, with all gear recovered and everyone okay, we proceeded. At the bottom of Sluicebox, where the river makes a hard right-hand turn, a different boater got stuck in a very swirly eddy on the left. He was fine, but not quite sure how to exit. About 45 minutes later, he proceeded downstream, and we all stopped to assess the condition of the group. The one who had swam was starting to show signs of waning confidence, the one who was stuck in the eddy was okay, but not boating as well as he should be, and a third boater was starting to feel extremely tired and unwell, apparently from a flu-bug he had just picked up. The group was talking about stopping here and camping for the night. I was pushing to continue on because I remembered the run from last year and knew that the hardest part was behind us (or so I thought). Also, I didn't relish the thought of camping in the snow, on rocks and logs. We decided to continue. Things were fine until the confluence with Bear Valley Creek--the amount of water coming down that valley was unbelievable! In our little kayaks, it felt like we were on an ocean! Needless to say, this huge addition in volume wrecked havoc on everyone's nerves. We had a few more tense moments to Dagger, but everyone managed to stay upright and okay. We set up camp at Dagger, had a nice dinner, and everybody seemed to be in pretty good spirits, except the guy who was sick--he was still feeling quite ill.
The next morning, we decided we should have a group discussion about the condition of the group and the difficulty/enormity of the water. Hiking off was discussed, hiking to the nearest airstrip and flying off was discussed, taking a layover day was discussed, as well as how strong the group was to continue on. After several hours of difficult group dynamics, we decided to hike down to Velvet, doing as much scouting along the trail as we could. When we got back to camp that evening, the two rafting groups had arrived and were in the process of setting up their camps. We learned of the troubles that Scott's group was having and were very concerned. The Pocatello group was in fine spirits and doing well. We shared a campfire with the Pocatello group that evening and talked about the run and what we had seen on our scouting expedition. One of the Pocatello group half-seriously made an offer to carry some of our group on the cats, but we reassured him that we were fine and would continue down the river on our own.
We packed up and left the next morning about 9 am, saying our good-byes and figuring we would meet-up with the Pocatello group at Sheepeater. About a mile or so past Boundary Creek, we had a swimmer--the same guy who had swam on Marsh Creek. He got himself and his paddle to shore quickly and was okay, so the 3 of us proceeded to chase his boat down river. The water was very fast and if was very difficult to get a fully-loaded, water filled boat to shore. We managed to get it over about 1/4 mile or so above Sulfur Slide. At this point we knew that this boater should not get back on the river. We all got back together again and everyone was fine and all of our gear was fine. Now we proceeded to discuss what our options were. We all agreed that it would not be safe to continue with the run with only 3 boaters (4 boaters was really marginal as it was). We knew that the Pocatello group was probably about 3 hours behind us, so we decided to wait for them and see if they could take at least one of us on their cats. We found a raft-size eddy for them a little ways downstream and sent one of our boaters there to assist in pulling the rafts in. The rest of us waited where we would be visible to flag the cats down.
About 3 hours later, we saw the first sign of the cats. An upright cat with a passenger and an oarsman was following an upside-down cat. We signaled to them that there was an eddy on the left just up ahead, but they asked about where Sulfur Slide was and continued on. We decided to wait for the rest of the rafting group before we moved on to plan B--hiking to the nearest landing strip. The rest of the cats showed up about 30 to 45 minutes later and pulled over upstream of us when they saw our signaling. We discussed our various problems and options. The rafters felt that they could take two of us on their cats, but the other two would need to stay in their kayaks. Myself and the kayaker who had swam got on two of the cats, along with our boats. All of this transpired fairly quickly and we proceeded downstream.
We got to Dolly Lake that evening without any further problems, except, of course, that we had not been able to find Dan. There was another group of cat-rafters already camped at Dolly Lake, but they hadn't seen any sign of Dan. The next morning, an airplane did an unusual amount of fly-bys over our camp, so we decided to send two of our kayakers downstream to Indian Creek, with this new group of cats, and the kayakers would then hike back to camp with any news. We were waiting for our hikers to return when Scott's group floated by. Upon the return of our hikers, we learned the terrible news of Dan's death. We all paddled down to Indian Creek the next morning, with us 4 kayakers back in our own boats. Then we dismantled and hiked all of the gear up to the airstrip and flew out--our kayaking group flew to Salmon, and the Pocatello group went to Challis.
My feeling on this whole experience is that what happened to Dan could happen to anybody who runs the river at this kind of level--no matter how experienced or skilled you are. Successful runs make us feel very confident and in control, but the reality is that the water is very powerful and is impossible to control. I believe that everyone made the best decisions they could in each situation. Boating in high water is risky and the consequences of misfortune can be very high, but we each make a personal choice when we decide to put-on.
That's my story. It's an experience I will always remember and endeavor to learn from.
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