It was a scenic drive from the Rio Manzo to the Fu. We drove through scrubby desert like
you find in Idaho. As we got closer to the mountains it felt like Big Sky Country, with, yes,
big blue skies, grassy fields, and ice-capped peaks. Arriving in the pueblo of Futaleufu
riminded me of that tv show Northern Exposure. Didn't see any moose, however. Never saw
any large wild game in Chile. Did the natives or european settlers kill them off?
Some
said that there are small deer and that is all there ever was. In such a rich land it seems
hard to believe. About an hour downstream is the ranch house of Louis Toro Mundaca. There is
a campground here and out back some Canadians run a kayak school. Camp was buisy. There was a
healthy gringo contingent, a few
chilenos, a Belgian guy, a group of Italians, and a few germans every now and again. Some
were familiar faces: Rafa and Felipe were there and we'd met a couple of the Gringos in
Pucon. The well
appointed
sites have covered circular picknick tables and fire
pits. There are flush toilets, and hot showers and a sauna heated by wood stoves. Two large
circular covered cooking areas have wooden floors and are fenced in to keep out the chickens
and dogs. About 20 chickens, 10 ducks, 7 or 8 dogs and 2 or 3 cats have the run of the place.
You can
buy cheese, beer, eggs, and fresh baked bread from Nieva, Louis' wife. The family
runs cattle and has several horses on their land that encompasses the entire valley on
about 10 miles of the river. Several major rapids run through the property: Alfombra Magica
(Magic Carpet), Almohada (Pillow), Mundaca, and Tiburon (Shark). Rapids Mas o Menos
(More or Less) and Casa Piedra (Rock House) immediatly follow and Terminator is
upstream. The put in for the Canyon Inferno is near the pueblo of Futaleufu on a tributary
river, the Rio Espulun. Rapids
Zeta (Z) and El Trono (Throne Room) follow. On a truely epic day one could paddle the
Canyon Inferno all the way to Casa Piedra, but most choose to break up the run into 3 or
4 sections. My first day on the river we ran the Bridge to Bridge section, which encompasses
Louis' land. I was the only one in the group who'd never been on the river before. What a
rush! Alfombra Magica is a mile of giant waves. You feel like you
are lost at sea in a Noreaster! When we arrived at the top of Mundaca, I was chosen to lead
(an innitiation for the first timer). At the bottom of this rapid is a large and violent hole.
If you paddle away from it it is bad river karma--the river will get you later. I paddled
for the middle of the rapid. About 100 feet above the Mundaca hole there is a large, voilent,
and turbulent wave. I was flipped over here. I rolled up facing up stream. Just as I turned
to face down stream I plunged into the frothy depths of the Mundaca hole. A brief but severe
thrashing ensued as I was flushed through. That afternoon we ran the same
run but went on through Mas o Menos and Casa Piedra. Frisbee, dinner, and the campfire
rounded out the day.
The next day we put in at the Rio Azul to run the Terminator rapid. Big,
powerful, rocky rapid. I ran the creeky, sneaky line down the left side and got worked in
three different ledge drops! A fair bit of flat water on this upper section, but not a bad
place to sit idly on the river taking in the scenery of dense, brooding forests and glacier
capped peaks. The next day I was a raft guide. Louis is hoping to capitalize on his
location and serve the Chilean tourists on raft trips. All of the raft trips run here are
coordinated from the United States and charge huge fees for pre-planned week long trips
(up to $1,500 a day!). Louis hopes to offer day trips from his
ranch that Chilean tourists (and other more adventurous and buget-minded folk) can afford.
The first trip I had a crew of 6 brave volenteers: Marta and two other chilena girls, Rafa,
Lucho, and Renault, the Belgian guy. A crew of 8 kayakers came along for safety,
the shuttle, and entertainment. I've guided for 5 years in Colorado and one season on the
Gauley Rive of West Virginia. I haven't guided on such a big river before though. Once
you get in the main current in a wave train it is very hard to get out! Twice I dumped out
the entire crew. Once in the Mundaca hole and at the big wave at the top of Tiburon. Mundaca
is no problem--you have a couple hundred yards of flat water after the rapid. Tiburon,
however, is not
a good place to lose your crew. At the end of the rapid the river pushes into a rock wall.
Luckily we were able to get everyone back in the boat just in time! Over the next two days
I ran 3 commercial trips. The first I had one swimmer in Alfombra Majica, the second was clean,
and on the third, the large wave above the Mundaca hole surged when we hit it and folded the
raft taco style. Everyone went out, including me, but we got everyone back together and
finished the rest of the run clean. The next day we kayaked the Canyon Inferno. Cliffs rise
up from a wide open valley where the river is quite tralquil. A series of 5 large
class IV and IV+ rapids follow. Once you are in, you
can't get out. Scouting is difficult. Three of the five of
us had been down before and we banked on their memories. This worked well for the most part
except for the last rapid, Salida (Exit). We followed Paletrokin's zig-zag line which put
some of us above a large hole without time to get around it! We were able to duck deep
through the hole and flushed out quickly. We caught up to a rafting trip
at Zeta. Zeta is a rediculus looking
rapid were the river bends 90 degrees and is forced through rock walls 15 feet apart. It is
normally a portage. This day a crazy Norwegan kayaker ran it, as well as a crazy helmetless
peruvian raft guide with one client in
his raft! Next was El Trono, a steep,
violent rapid with huge holes and seams and a large boulder (El Trono) parked in the middle at
the bottom
of the rapid. On its left of El Trono is a large Mundacaesque hole and on its right is The
Toaster.
Entering
The Toaster usually involves being surged vertically several times (like a piece of toast) on
the violent boil/eddy line next to the boulder. I filmed friends Nate and Nathan and then
decided to portage. Nathan got lucky and flushed right through The Toaster, and Nate only
got on breath the whole way down. A few miles of flat water with occasional rapids and we
made it to the take out--the Rio Azul. I went fishing with Dan that night in the eddies
below Mundaca. We dug up some worms from underneath stumps and headed a half mile down
stream from camp. The river is full of trout and salmon, all recently introduced and their
populations
are booming. The salmon are now making runs to the ocean and spawning in upper tributaries,
just as they do in their native habitat in the northern hemisphere. Again, where are the
native species? No one knew of any native fish, but surely there were some. Fished out
by Natives or European settlers? It's hard to imagine such a vital river without fish! I
caught a few pan sized fish but Dan had all the luck, hauling in 3 15-20 inchers! We sauteed
them all in a wok with onion and garlic and served them with curried rice. Not bad for a
couple of kayak bums! The next day was a conference sponsored by Friends of the Futaleufu.
Louis let them hold the conference in the old barn by the campsites. All of the local
river guides and people involved in the growing local tourism industry were invited to
discuss how growth might be managed and what they ought to do about it. They are also
trying to raise the profile of the area and its economic importance as a tourism area. There
are a couple of dams planned for this river that could be under construction in just a few
years. Some people think it is too late and say the dams will be built. Some don't think so.
I
hope not! An asado followed with two young goats cleaned and splayed out on spits next to the
fire and a fry pan on stilts over the fire full of marinated chicken. There was plenty of beer
and the campfire burned late into the night. The next day began slowly. It was our last day.
We made a last run from Alfombra Magica to Casa Piedra, said our goodbyes, and headed
into town. They might have an opeining for a raft guied for me at Cara Del Indio next summer!
Had dinner in town but unfortunately arrived too late to see the rodeo. Their main competition
is pinning a cow to a wall with the chest of your horse. If you pin it at its hips it's one
point, at the ribs, 2 points, at the shoulders, 3 points. No bull riding or barrel races.
After dark and van pulled up to the town plaza, a city block park in the center of every
latin american town. They raised a movie screen and began the evening with some Chilean
acoustic music. The main attraction was a movie, "Taxi Para Tres" (A Taxi For Three). It
was a Chilean film that had won awards in Europe. It was a dramatic comedy about a wanted
team of two armed robbers who paid off a taxi driver to be their get away.
It was a good test of my chilean spanish--I understood some of the slang I'd been learning,
but a lot of it still slipped by me. We stayed in a hospedaje (hostel) for the night and
headed out the next morning for the Frontera and Bariloche, Argentina. We would stop for one
more day of paddling on the Gol Gol, a day in Conception, and then on to Santiago to catch
the plane home.
|
