Arrived late from Conception. A full car now. Marta's sister and friend, Mebel and Margarit,
joined us. Found a hospedaje for about $5 US a night. Off to the
Upper Palguin the next morning. Rented a paddle in town.
The girls went to the beach on Lake Villarica and looked for
a cabana (a house rental). The river was quite a treat! The put in is just down steam from a
100 foot falls.
The easiest put-in is a 10 foot drop off the river bank. A short but technical rapid follows,
at the end of which the river bends 90 degrees to the right and drops 18 feet. A
few more waterfalls and then a portage. The river dumps 20 feet into a churning hole in the
rock where the river changes course, then drops another 20 feet. Nathan jumped the 40 feet to
the large pool below the falls, swam to shore, and I roped the boats down to him. Then
I jumped. Lots of fun, except for my sinuses! I had a headache for 3 days after the
jump. A couple more drops and creeky rapids and we were done. Back to town to find the girls.
They'd found a cabana a couple of miles from downtown for $30 US a night. Not bad split between
the 5 of us. The cabana was a family's house. They made some extra money renting out thier
house in the
tourist season and lived in the "house" out back. Worked out well. Went out on the town late.
Margarit met her ex boyfriend and took off. Went to town the next day to try and find an
new paddle. Found a couple of ragged old ones to buy for cheap but wasn't too excited
about them. Just as we were about to head out, Jan and the french contingent showed up in
the Ford Falcon. It was a happy reunion. Stephan had a paddle I could borrow. They
gave us directions to their house out in the country outside of Pucon. We rondesvoued at the
french guys house for coffee
and then went out thier back door to the Rio Yancura. A half mile down is an excellent play
wave.
Paddled hard trying to work off my hangover. Took out late. By the time we got back to the
cabana I felt feverish. Took a nap and ate a little. Was supposed to meet our friends in town
later, but I wasn't leaving bed. Woke up at 4:30 am. Mebel had found our friends in town and
brought them back. I was feeling better and joined them for an hour of conversation, then
back to bed. The next day we went and paddled
the Alta (Upper) Trancura. The river was a bit low, but still fun. A few powerful
rapids and a gnarly looking falls to portage in the middle. Marta bought a large frozen
fish from a guy she met while driving the shuttle. We went back to the Yancura play wave
for a little more paddling and then to our friends house in the country for dinner. Nathan
whooped up the fish in tin foil with herbs, garlic, lemon and butter and roasted it in the fire.
Ate it on buns (most of Chile's bread comes in the form of hearty buns) with tomato. Wine
and beer around the fire outside. Found out that one of Jan's cousins works with me up in
Snowmass Village, CO in the winter time. Small world! The next day we made another run
down the Alta Palguin with our friends. Jan did a swan dive off the 40 foot portage! That
night was the full moon. 40 of us piled into 2 rafts, 2 tandem duckies, and a fleet of
kayaks and paddled the Bajo Trancura by moonlight. A mellow class III section with a
couple of big wave sections--more fun in mystic moonlight. A glowing plume pulsated from the
top of the Vulcan (Volcano) Villarica. About half of us stayed for a bonfire and asado
on the river bank until dawn. Back to the cabana, slept till after noon, packed up and headed
out of town, on our way to the Rio Petrohue.
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