For the second year in a row I took full advantage of having my March Break off and headed down South to pick up my new boat from the Pyranha Kayaks warehouse in Asheville, North Carolina. I loaded up my truck on Friday and left Ottawa to meet up with Todd and Dustin Caza in upstate NY.  When I arrived at Todd’s house we loaded up his car (in whiteout conditions) and waited for Dustin to finish work so we could start our road-trip. We left NY and drove 6 hours to Mark Campbell’s house in PA where we spent the night. On Saturday morning we loaded up Mark’s Honda Element and the four of us continued to make our way South. Since I couldn’t pick up my boat in Asheville until Monday morning we decided to drive as far as Tennessee and spend Saturday and Sunday paddling there.

When we arrived in Tennessee we found out that we had missed most of the water by about a week (the un-seasonally warm temperatures had moved up the spring paddling season everywhere). “You should have been here last week” sort of became the theme of our road trip as everything seamed to be going off the week before we got there.

Even though there was a lack of water in the area we still seamed optimistic and planned on running the Green River Narrows on Monday after I picked up my new Pyranha Shiva. However, once we got there we found out that the due to the lack of rain in the are the Green River which releases water about 360 days a year would be shut off till at least the Thursday. We quickly started checking weather radars, river gauges and making phone calls to make a plan of attack.

After calling our friend and NC local Matt Dalton we decided to paddle the Watauga River (a classic run for the area) and then drive to the night to catch some water in WV, which was apparently getting hit with rain (we decided that this was a better plan then not paddling all week waiting for the Green to be turned on).

On Tuesday we met up with some of Mark’s friends at the take-out to the Big Sandy River in WV. Ran shuttle on some of the sketchiest back roads I have ever been on and were very excited to finally get some water. The Big sandy is a great class 4/5 river with lots of cool boulder-garden style rapids and 2 bigger drops Wonder Falls and Big Splat. After running the Big Sandy we checked gauges and decided to head to the campground at the top of the Top Yough in Maryland where we would paddle on Wednesday.  I have previously paddled the Upper Yough so was excited to paddle another new river. The Top Yough starts of with a very uncharacteristic slide and then continues through 2.5 miles of awesome boulder-gardens with lots of cool boofs and slots.  (we rand 3 laps on it on Wednesday and then headed to town for some great Southern BBQ). The next morning we ran 2 more laps on the Top Yough and said Goodbye to Matt who headed back home (and we started our way back home).

After we got off the river, we drove all the way back to Todd’s place in NY (arrived at 3 A.M.). The NY season also started way earlier then normal so we were able to do a quick playboat run down Fish Creek, before I drove back to Canada.

When I arrived home and finally turned my phone back on.  I was very surprised to find out that the Ottawa River was rising fast (also way earlier then normal) and that BUSSY might be in by Sunday (and it did).  This week we have had record-breaking warm temperatures and we have been surfing BUSSY for the past 4 days. The water is still on the rise and we have our fingers crossed for BIG BUS to come in this weekend.

A rafting/kayaking journey through the Grand Canyon, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World is highly coveted and hard to come by. It is the longest rafting trip in the United States, and one of the most spectacular as well. It is said that the only way to truly experience the Grand Canyon is to float through it.

My Journey began on Dec. 2^nd, 2011, when my younger brother Juraj and I boarded our flight in Ottawa and flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to start our drive to Canyon R.E.O. our outfitter in Flagstaff, Arizona. We landed in Vegas at around 10:30 P.M. and started collecting our gear and sorting out our very expensive rental car. At around 11:30 P.M we were finally on the road. As we crossed to Arizona I started to see snow (in the dessert). The bit of snow quickly turned to a full on blizzard. When we finally arrived at 3:30 A.M. at the motel in Flagstaff where we were meeting the rest of our crew there was at least 10inches of snow on the ground (way more than Ottawa had when we left). I was very worried that the next 24 days on the Colorado River would be way colder than I expected. When we arrived at the outfitter the next morning and started loading up the trucks with all our gear, everyone was asking the same questions (Is this normal for Arizona to get this much snow?). The reply we got was assuring… “This is typical weather for Flagstaff but it will be warmer the closer we get to the put-in…) However once we started driving to the put-in it continued to snow and our driver kept saying that he has never seen snow this far down. (Great) We arrived at the Lee’s Ferry put-in around 2:30 leaving us about 2 hours of daylight to inflate our rafts and get everything rigged and loaded. As it was still cold out (a lot colder then we were hoping for) everyone agreed that it would be better to stay at a motel one last night instead of camping and keeping all our tents dry.

The next morning  (Dec. 4^th, 2011, LAUNCH DAY) we were met by to Grand Canyon Park Rangers at the Lee’s Ferry put-in to go over our gear and to fill us in on some of the Leave No Trace practices used in the Grand Canyon… (ex. Put a ground sheet on the floor of your kitchen area to collect food scraps. Pack away your ash. Urinate in the river, etc…)

We were finally packed and ready to go around 11:30 A.M. and our Grand Canyon trip was officially started. The Following 24 days were Amazing. We spent the 1^st few days figuring out our camp chores and the best way to pack and unpack our rafts. We split the groups into 4 and set a rotation system (Shitter, Dinner, Day off), so your chores would start as follows: You start by setting up the Groover (an amo can with a toilet seat and a hand washing station) in the evening. The next morning you are responsible for packing up the Groover. That evening your group is responsible for setting up the kitchen and preparing dinner. The third morning your group will be responsible for breakfast and lunch. Once lunch is finished you officially have a day off. This system worked great for us.

We were lucky to have high water between 21,000 – 22,000 cfs for this time of year which made going down the river very quick. Having 24 days to cover 283 miles (456km) meant we didn’t have to do too many long days. We would normally be packed up and ready to go around 10:30 A.M. and would normally do about 20-30 miles in a day, getting off the river about 3:30 P.M. and set up camp. We decided to take a number of layover days at specific camp spots to be able to do some of the many hikes or to just relax and enjoy a bit of sunlight (which would typically not last long in one spot).

The Grand Canyon is very beautiful and everyday I was amazed how the Geology and Scenery would change (I will let the photos do the talking).

We were lucky to spend Christmas in the Canyon. It was my 4^th Christmas in a row where I was unable to be at home (which has been a bit hard in the past), however, this one will go down as one of my favourites. We shared some great laughs and exchanged our secret Santa gifts as well as received our stockings in the morning.

One of the coolest experiences I had was on the final 34miles of the trip. In order to get to the take-out at Pierre’s Ferry, most people do a night float. (This is because there are no campsites on the final stretch of the canyon. We put on the river at 11:30 P.M. and tied our rafts together. We set up our solar lights, Euchre Table, and sleeping pads and proceeded to float the 34miles to the take-out. Geoff and I took the oars and made sure we didn’t hit any of the walls as we floated. We arrived at the take-out at around 9 A.M. and out Grand Canyon Adventure came to an end after 24 amazing days…

For more info on the Grand Canyon, Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon

http://www.canyonreo.com/

After bringing in the New Year with good friends and a fantastic fireworks display in Pucon, Ben Robson, Jean LeTulzo and I started our transit to the Rio Futaleufu. We had heard that it could be a bit of a pain to get down there but I figured since i had 11 days until my flight back to Ottawa we would a lots of time. We left from the JAC bus terminal in Pucon at 5:30 P.M. on January 1st, and headed to Puerto Montt where we would then jump on the overnight ferry down to Chaiten leaving at 11:30 P.M. We arrived in Puerto Montt at 11:00 P.M. and proceeded to carry all of our gear to the ferry terminal with just minutes to spare before departing. On the ferry we decided that instead of spending the night in the seats that did not recline we would rather sleep on the car platform between all the trucks and cars. We were woken up early (around 7 A.M) as the ferry was pulling into one of the ports before Chaiten and lowering the platform to allow the car we slept in front of to get off. We quickly packed up our sleeping bags and thermarests and decided to go to our seats for the remaining few hours. Once we arrived in Chaiten we found out that the only bus heading to Futaleufu would not be leaving for 2 days.

In May 2008, the eruption of the Chaiten Volcano caused lahar (mud slides) to flood the banks of the Blanco River. The river excavated a new course through Chaiten, completely destroying a significant part of it and causing the government to relocate and compensate the towns people. The town of Chaiten is now a complete ghost town and has only a small number of residents left there trying to rebuild.

We were very fortunate to be greeted by a man who spotted Ben’s Kayak when we got of the ferry, he offered to drive us to the Futaleufu for a fee to cover his gas costs etc… not having too much choice we agreed. As we were packing up our things into the van getting ready to start the 3 hour drive to Futaleufu I notice a sticker on the back of his van that I have seen before on the Ottawa River on a Kayak of a Chilean paddler I met on the Ottawa River this summer (Marcos Gallegos). I asked him about it and turned out that Marcos is his son (kayaking is such a small community and one of the many reasons why I love the sport).

We were dropped of at Cara Del Indio (a campground for kayakers located in-between the Bridge to Bridge section of the Rio Futaleafu) hoping that since we had no car we can get rides to the river with other kayakers staying there or with a rafting trip.

Our first day we were able to catch a ride to the Bridge to Bridge section with a raft trip and getting our 1st taste of the big river. At the takeout we ran into our German friends Anne and Maxi who we met in Pucon (and they had a truck!!!!)

The next day 9 of off (Jean {France}, Ben {NZ}, Maxi Siech{Germany}, Anne Hubner{Germany}, the 3 Swiss guys (Ron Fischer, Severin Haeberling, Simon Seeberger, Nini Bondhus{Norway} and myself) loaded into the truck and drove 40km to the town of Futaleufu where we put on to do a complete run of the Rio Futaleufu: including the Inferno Canyon, Throne Room, Terminator and the Bridge to Bridge taking out at the campground.
The next morning we finished the remaining few rapids that we didn’t get a chance to do the day before.

Jean and I had to leave on Friday morning as the only bus leaving from Futaleufu was then or on Monday (having my flight from Santiago on Tuesday this was not an option). We took the bus to Bariloche, Argentina where we had to spend 2 nights because there was no bus for Santiago and we found that going through Chile would be the best option. We had to take a 12 hour bus ride to Pucon (having to go through Ozorno and Valdivia) arriving in Pucon at 11:30PM on Sunday night. Being my last night I got persuaded to go to Mamas one last time before having to leave for another 12 hour bus ride back to Santiago for my flights back home (Santiago to Miami, Miami to Montreal, and then finally Montreal to Ottawa).

I has been an amazing month and I cannot wait to head back to Chile real soon…

I have been wanting to go run the 70 foot Medio Palguin for 2 weeks now but the timing never worked out right. There is always a group heading to a different river which is harder to get on which usually makes me want to go there, telling my self that the 70 footer is not going anywhere. I woke up today and decided that Xmas Eve is the perfect day to go huck myself off of a big waterfall. We rallied everyone early (11am, early for Chilean boating) and headed up to  the Middle Palguin. Unfortunately when we arrived at the putin for the middle the land owner denied us access.

We then decided to just go run the lower Palguin as none of us have done it up to this point. After a quick run down the Lower Palguin and running back up to get the truck, we decided to go have a second look hoping that the landowner would no longer be there and we can run the falls.

We got our xmas present early as he was no longer there and 3 of us (Myself, Patrick Liddell, Jean “Frenchie” LeTulzo) geared up to go run the falls. Jean was the only one of the 3 of us that has run it before so we made him go first and show us the line. He nailed it and rolled up at the bottom. It was my turn to go next. I rolled off the lip and waited to tuck so that I would not go over the bars. I felt like I nailed my line and had a very soft hit at the bottom. However, when I rolled up I noticed that the impact gave my Pyranha Everest a bit of extra rocker. I will have to try and fix it tomorrow and try to get on another run in the morning.

Here are some sweet photos from the day taken by Ben Robson and Jake Greenbaum:

Thursday Martin Belden, Seth Stoner, Max Fisher, Jean (Frenchie) decided to go do another lap on the Nevados (This is so far my favorite run in Chile). The level this time was a bit lower then the first time we went in there so we were able to run the 3 drops after the must run 30 footer. First you have to fairy at the base of the auto boof 10ft waterfall and go through 2 narrow slots at the base of which are 2 big holes (make sure you go tight left at the second one, or you can get a good beating). Next the river takes a 90 degree bend and you have to charge hard left to go and boof of the pillow. This day we also ran “dul ce amor” which means sweet love! This is a beautiful 20 foot boof followed by another tight slot boof off a 6 footer. Make sure to catch the eddie on the left and hike up the trail, unless you want to go off of the Denshitz Drop!

Friday started off with some heavy rain (leaving all my dry layers outside the night before to dry, I was not very motivated to go paddling) and a lack of a ride to the river we decided to take a down day and relax for The Upper Palguin Race the next day! This day involved a few Cervecaz and some Mohitos.

Saturday started off as any race day usually starts, with a huge hangover! We slowly ralied at the Pucon Kayak Hostel and loaded about 16 people and boats into Dave Hughe’s Saburban and headed up to Ben’s House for the pre race briefing. The entry fee to the race was 5,000 Luca (about $10 US) and came with a 6 pack of beer.  I was in the very first heat of the race against Marian Saether and some very fast Costarican guy! At the starting Ramp all I was concentrating on was having a good line through the first line so that there would not be too much carnage. I started off really well having the lead right of the start but then I got pushed a bit left getting hung up on a rock right above the 1^st drop and getting passed by the other two racers. I got knocked out in the first heat, relieved to not have to hike my boat to the top of the run and do it again and happy to watch the carnage provided by the head head nature of the race. Jake Greenbaum was the victor of this years race being the only racer who was able to make the boil sneak at the base of the 3^rd falls.

Sunday we took a new arrival Ben Brisborne to the Nevados to show him what paddling in Pucon is all about.

Monday we rallied a huge crew of 17, including Ewan Garcia, Graham and Jared Seiler and the rest of the Demshitz Crew and headed to Pucons hardest and longest run, the Puesco. This section is a bout 8km of class 4-5 steep boulder gardens similar in nature to “Getting Busy” on the Little White Salmon in Oregon. The crux of this section is called “Tres Troncos” It is steep and pushy and not very easy to scout. We lowly picked or way down eddie hopping and trying to avoid any wood.

Tuesday we decided to go try another new run, The Llancahue. This is know as the little sister to the Palguin. It is located about 2 hours away from Pucon, so we decided to get an early start so we could get Max back in time to catch his bus up to Santiago. This run was sweet. It started off with a beautiful 20 footer followed by a very tight feeling section of boogie water. The next big drop was a steep narrow canyon about 25 meters long and snaked its way down through some decent sized holes. Max, Kira and I decided to run it and had pretty good lines. The rest of the river continued to maintain its narrow character. The last major rapid on the run was about a 8ft boof of a banking pillow into a big hole. This is a fairly tricky boof to lign up as the river takes a 90degree turn right at the lip of the drop. Both Dave and I took a pretty good beating before working our way out of the hole. Max came through clean. Kira decided to run it next and after a valiant effort to get out of the hole decided to swim. Once Ben saw the lines, he opted to walk this beast.

Pucon is a very beautiful town located about 10 hours south of Santiago and is surrounded by beautiful mountains and a volcano. Once we arrived at the Pucon bus terminal we headed to the Pucon Kayak Hostle the base of Go Huge Kayak Academy here in Chile to pick up our boats and sort out all our gear.

There we met a group of boaters who had decided to rent a 12 passenger van and a trailer drive down to Fuy River Festival in the small town of Choshuenco.

The drive down was a mini adventure of its own. First it took all day to sort out the Van and Trailer. Second the van turned out to have a number of problems once of which was overheating. Third it wouldn’t start so we had to push start it on several occasions.

Once we arrived in Choshuenco, we met up with Chilean Kayaker and NOLS instructor Claudio Vega who put us up for the weekend and would be our guide of the area for the weekend.

Due to very high water the Festival ended up being cancelled but we were able to experience so class 4 big water action for 2 days.

We returned back to Pucon on Sunday night and headed straight to Mama’s (local watering hole and party spot to all the paddlers).

Monday began with a big hangover and a few laps of some high water action on the Upper Palguin to get warmed up.  This section has a number of fun technical drops and some big holes which provide some entertainment.  We did a few laps warming up for some of the more difficult runs in the area.

Tuesday we headed to the Nevados which turned out to be at a high level which made for some fun. The 1^st drop is a long slide which provides some hand time if u hit the flake at the bottom. Next is a fun 25footer and then just around the corner there is a must run 30footer into a beautiful gorge.  Just downstream of the must run is a 3 part technical drop.

After a run on the Nevados we headed to a perfect 30 foot park and huck on the Coilaco.

Wednesday we did a few more laps on the Upper Palguin to train for the race this upcoming weekend!

Today we are hoping to do the complete run of the Palguin including all the sections and running the 70 foot Medio Palguin.