Little White and the Colorado Fall Blues

Given the exceptionally dry weather in Colorado this fall and little to no great kayaking opportunities, here is to thinking about the next kayaking trip.  Little White Salmon, March 2012 with Ben Luck and Louis Geltman. Lots of water, lots of wood, lots of sunshine and a whole lot of good paddling.

Nathan & Matthew Klema

Some North Fork Of The Little Wind Pictures

         Here's a few pictures from my recent trip down the North Fork of the Little Wind.  This run has some classic drops which are cleverly hidden within miles of heinous boulder mank.  Be leery of blogs that compare this run to Big Kimshew or Upper Cherry.  Still it was a good mission and fun was had by all.

Tom Janney running one of the top slides in style.

Xavier Engle in a slightly more typical rapid.

Tom Janney on Double Drop.

Tyson Titensor on Double Drop

Xavier Engle arriving at the put in after him and I got lost and bush wacked for several hours.

The Pelechuco: A Big Bowl Of Via

           I have learned over the years that when you go on kayaking trips by yourself you can never be too sure what to expect.  I first met Cooper Lambla in Cusco Peru following a week of rolling solo through the heart of the Peruvian Andes.  We barely knew each other for thirty minutes and we already had plans to spend the next month exploring the largely untapped rivers of Bolivia.  Outside the country any imformation was impossible to find so it wasn`t untill we arrived at the Instituto Geographico Militar in La Paz that we realized how big of an undertaking it would be.  With difficult access it quickly become apparent that most boating would have to be done from close to the source all the way untill it reached the low foothills of the Amazon Basin.  We decided to warm up on the already know Unduavi river figuring a roadside run would help us know the character of the rivers without being too commited.  Brimming with excitement, and unsure of past put-ins we got off of the bus as soon as the river looked remotely boatable at around 10,000 feet.  The locals shook their heads in something between confusion and amusement as we dragged our boats optimistically towards the steep, rocky, mountain creek.  The first day consisted of mostly portaging with ultra-steep stacked class V and occasional commiting slot canyons.  It wasn`t untill the second day that we were finally rewarded with several miles of quality boofs and gorgeous canyons with the cascading waterfalls typical of the northern Andes.

    

Cooper Lambla near the beginning of the good stuff on day two

Cooper probing a slot on the `Duavi

             Inspired by what we found we decided it was time for a mission, and a big one at that.  The Pelechuco river is one of the northern most drainages of Bolivia`s Cordillera Real, and a principle tributary of the Tuichi; a river renowned for it`s thriving jungle ecosystem as it flows through the remote Madidi National Park.  In the early dawn hours we borded the ten hour bus from La Paz to the town of Pelechuco.  The drive itself was spectacular, passing through fields of grazing Alpaca on the high alpine tundra with glacier capped peaks in the distance. 

The headwaters of the Pelechuco from the road

          Upon first arriving in Pelechuco most of the locals thought we were nuts, but eventually several became excited and offered us their help and advice.  We learned where we could expect to find fishing trails, how far tributaries were, the names of people who could help us in potential take out towns, and we were even given a ride in a 4x4 several miles down river. 

Cooper and I with Juan (a folk musician and driver) and Reynaldo Vasques (Hotel

owner, horsepacker, and most simply stated - the man)

        The river started with a several hour portage.  That was followed by about a half hour of boating and then a several hour portage on the other side of the river.  The jungle was quickly getting denser and the river showed no signs of mellowing.  Only a good double boof kept moral high as we ate tuna with ketchup and mayo in a small, buggy camp.

Cooper at camp one

On day two we ran almost everything but the gradient was unrelenting, with many small must make eddies above horizon lines as the river dropped from the Andes in one continuous rapid.  At lunch we realized we hadn`t made it as far as we thought and were in fact barely on the map.  Shortly after lunch a 14 inch crack propegated in the bottom of my boat and we had to camp early for repairs.  Still moral remained high.  Realizing the size of the undertaking we were on the water early the next day and around noon we finally reached the point where the gradient mellowed (slightly) and we were able run several kilometers of whitewater without scouting. 

Coop linking it up on day three.  It was still pretty steep!

           Just after lunch on day three we finally got what we came for.  The gradient picked up again, but this time - instead of scary steep boulder gardens - we found ourselves in a tight-walled bedrock canyon that we named the Babylon Gorge. 

Myself spreading my wings on Boof To Babylon

           Below the canyon the river finally lost some of its angst and we were happy to finally relax while we paddled several miles of class 3/4 in spectacular canyons with pristine jungle crowning the rims.   We took out in the first town we saw and were immediately surrounded my the locals, curious to know where we had come from.  By pure chance there was one car in the town that was getting ready to make a trip to the outside world.  The drive to the pavement took about seven hours and was on a one lane dirt road with a precipitous drop to one side and board bridges spanning gaps in the road.  After the driver fell asleep at the weel Cooper drove the vintage land cruiser to safety much to the amusement of the Bolivians riding with me in the truck bed.  After the Pelechuco we spend two more weeks in Bolivia and ran three more rivers.  Unfortunately both Cooper and I had camera mishaps so seen here are the only surviving pictures; so enjoy them.

    A beautiful little river we stumbled upon.  We still don't know its name.

A Typical Bolivian shuttle.

The Homathko: Dubious at Best

My season got a late start this year. With a broken rib in May and a full season of work, my kayaking was mostly local until September when a couple spare weeks allowed me to road trip up to B.C. I presented the idea to Xavier Engel who optimistically informed me that he would go and that we would undoubtably boat around Whistler for exactly two days at which point the Homathko river would drop to a runnable flow. Xavier never lies! The prophecy delivered, and our third day in Canada found us heading north with some trepidation as the river dropped nearer to a runnable flow.

                                                   Hector Darbymaclellan guiding us down Tatlow creek near Whistler

As we neared the put in it became apparent that cold weather was working in our favor and the run was in; if a little bit high. What could possibly go wrong? In the town of Tatla Lake we were greeted with some local skepticism - the result of several kayaker evacs from the canyon in past years - however that did not lessen our optimism as we neared the put in.

The Crew: From left Chris Gragtmans, Pete Lodge, Xavier Engle, Louis Geltman, Ric Moxon and I

Day 1: One of the factors that makes the Homathko such a classic expedition is the fact that you run the river from source to sea. The trip starts with a paddle across Tatloyoka lake to the outlet where the Homathko river begins with a few hundred cfs. Over the course of four days you cut through the B.C. coastal range, running six canyons (and portaging one) before ending at the Bute inlet on a flow of over 20,000 cfs! On our first day we battled bitter headwinds across the lake. Once on the river the flow seemed to increase continually as glacier charged side streams made their contribution to the Homathko River. We camped on a huge sandy beach just above the start of the Great Canyon and the whitewater.

Morning at camp 1

Day 2: Shortly below camp the walls started to tighten and the gradient escalated as we paddled into the Great Canyon. Most of the morning we worked our way through high quality boulder gardens which had a fun big water feel and were all runnable.

Louis Geltman the rally master. Louis found out we were going on the

Homathko about three hours after he should have left Hood River OR!

Louis again. Somewhere in the Great Canyon.

Chris Gragtmans in yet another classic rapid with no name.

The highlight of the day came shortly after the exit of the Great Canyon when the river dropped into the shallow but committing mini-gorge known as Birthday Canyon. Amazingly polished and fluted rock frames this beautiful rapid, which ends in the entire Homathko river going through a slot about six feet wide.

Pete Lodge in the entrance to Birthday Canyon

Chris Gragtmans fighting the boils above the slot

Ric Moxon above the crux

Unfortunately we did not get to enjoy the high of Birthday Canyon for long. Shortly below we came upon the the large tributary on the left that marks the start of an arduous portage. Several hours later we got in our boats at the foot of the canyon and paddled a short ways down to camp at the confluence with Mosley Creek just as darkness fell.

Day 3: Day 3 picked up fast. With the added flow of Mosely Creek the Homathko was starting to get a big water feel. After several miles of spicy read and run we got to the first of the three Tragedy Canyons. This canyon was fairly short and easy although a little bit intimidating. The second Tragedy had an unrunnable log in the entrance forcing a portage of the first bit. Paddling down to a midway scout point we had no idea what was to come! Several big rapids led to a point where the river dropped into a massive river wide hole!! After much deliberation we decided to go for it and like sadistic little ducks we paddled in a neat line into the massive, walled in hydraulic! It let us all through and the adrenaline high from this rapid (which we called Dubious at Best) carried us through the final Tragedy and the intimidating - but mellow - Waddington Canyon. From here the walls opened and the cliffs gave way to views of ice fields and peaks in the distance. Several fun, but far less intimidating rapids led us to our final camp

Day 4:  The last day consisted of a mellow float through a beautiful valley topped with glaciers.  After several hours we began to smell the ocean, and even saw seals swimming up from the Bute Inlet.  Shortly after we arrived at Homathko camp.  Upon arrival we were immediatly offered coffee and hot showers by our friendly hosts, and we spent a pleasant several hours conversing with chuck, the owner of the camp, while we awaited the plane. 

Xavier and Louis framed by Bute Mountain near Homathko Camp

Chuck enthusiastically showed us the entire camp including a hydro-electric generator and a thirty-foot power boat all built by hand.  Unfortunately our time here was short and before long the plane showed up.  What ensued was the best shuttle ever!

Chris, Xavier and I excited about our shuttle rig

Saying farewell to the beautiful Homathko

Peru 2010: Rio Patchachaca

Evan Ross emerging from the shadows, Day 1. Photo: Nate Klema

After getting off the Rio Apurimac, we (Matt Wilson, Ryan Casey, Evan Ross, Ben Luck and Nate and Matthew Klema) stopped in the town of Abancay on the way back to Cuzco. The Patchachaca is a tributary of the Apurimac. This small river flows into the Apurimac about a mile upstream of Puente Pasaje, the take out for the Abysmo section of that river. It wasn’t until 2004 that the Patchachaca was run by Henry Munter and Brian Fletcher. It is surprising that it took so long to get run since it is on the major highway from Lima to Cuzco. It was also the cleanest river I had seen in Peru up to that point. From the road it looks like a low volume kayakers dream.

Nate Klema in the middle of the best sections of the run, late Day 1. Photo: Matthew Klema

We spent a day resupplying and resting up for what would be Matt, Evan and my last trip. Putting on the next morning we realized how quickly this little river was moving compared to the big water we had just gotten off of in the abysmo section of the Apurimac. It was fun to be back on more of what felt like a mountain stream and we headed downstream going through the first bedrock gorge visible from the road and past a lot of hot springs coming out of the walls.

Curtain of hot springs. Photo: Nate Klema

After the first bedrock gorge the gradient eased. The torrent ducks on this river were absolutely amazing. They must have liked this river because of its clarity. They are amazing swimmers. Swimming sieves, up to class VI underwater, and would often drop from the air into the seam of holes, where the downstream and upstream currents meet. By late afternoon the gradient picked up again and we got to some short really rocky steep sections that were only sometimes run able. After some portaging we reached a beautiful boulder garden rapid that was half a mile long. After scouting the whole thing we ran it in two groups of three. When we reached the bottom there was a great area for a camp. Nate and Ben unloaded their boats and headed back upstream to run the drop again.

Rio Patchachaca Canyon, Day 1. Photo: Matthew Klema

After an hour and a half of read and run class IV the next morning and the river’s gorge started to steepen. Picking our way carefully down we rounded a corner and the river dropped off the face of the earth, tumbling through some large holes and minor sieves and then into a major sieve (which the ducks ran). This necessitated an interesting portage with a lot of boat passing and eventual fifteen-foot seal launch back into the river.

Early Day 2, the crux of the run. Most of the river went under the boulders where the picture is taken from.

Photo: Matthew Klema

The rest of the day the river continued a relentless gradient through boulder gardens of granite and limestone. It was very continuous and very good, but in strange places there were very tight drops with very sticky holes backed up by random rocks and strangely placed dangerous sieves. This went on relentlessly for the rest of the day with hardly a pool in sight. I think we each had at least one good hole ride, a large boof onto a rock and each saw a sieve closer then we wanted to. Because of this I would say that this was probably the most serious run that we did while in Peru. I think we were all grateful when it started to get dark and we were able to pull over.

Matthew Klema working downstream. Photo: Nate Klema

The next morning, while the rapids maintained some of the same character, but the pools became more distinct in between them. After an hour on the river we got to a narrow gorge in the limestone bedrock. The whole river went through a little slot canyon about three feet wide for a quarter of a mile, dropping over a few falls directly into inescapable potholes. Then the gradient decreased, we encountered a few short run-able slots though other bands of limestone.

Ryan Casey powering over a large hole. Photo: Nate Klema

Looking back upstream at the confluence of the Apurimac (L) and the Patchachaca (R).

Photo: Matthew Klema

By nine o’clock on day three we reached the confluence with the Apurimac and were in sight of Puente Pasaje just in time to see the bus head up the switchbacks away from the river. We got to spend the whole day with a school group who were down for the day at the river. We had dinner that night in the towns little “restaurant” with the military operations team that had set up a drug checkpoint and do reconnoitering of the surrounding area.

Ben Luck contemplating how he feels about being at the infamous Puente Pasaje for the second time in less then a week. Photo: Matthew Klema

Catching the bus to Andhuyalas the next morning to retrace our steps back to Abancay and then Cuzco. It was a holiday, the Peruvian Halloween essentially, and when we arrived in Abancay that night there was not a place for us to stay, so the friendly Peruvian who we had stayed with four days earlier let the six of us crash on his living room floor for the night since he was out of rooms for the night. Upon getting back to Cuzco the next day. The group planned to go their separate ways. Nate, Ben and Ryan continuing to paddle in Peru. Matt, Evan and I returning to the U.S. to our prior commitments.

A big thanks to Juanito, Daniel, Leo and Diego for everything that they helped us with in Cuzco, from a place to stay to logistical help among many other things, but most of all sharing the rivers of Peru and the common love of Kayaking with us.

Matthew and Nathan Klema