Had a couple of really long days, and need to catch up. Yesterday, we ran the Upper T again, then came home, ate lunch, took a siesta, and went out and ran it again. That was perfect. For me, the first time I do class 4, I am basically pointing it where I think they are telling me to go and holding on. The second time, I sort of know why I screwed up, and the third time I can relax and pick my line. That is, if the 3 times are close together. Otherwise, I forget and start over each time.
The first major rapid on the upper, the one we scouted from the road, is called Devil's Throat, or Gates of Hell, depending on who you are talking to. (Note to Mom: it is really called Fluffy Bunny). It has a crux go-left move to stay out of a bad hole/whirlpool. By the 3rd time I figured out that I was actually going too far left, due to the insistence of the guides saying that everyone makes the same mistake of not jamming left aggressively enough. (No criticism intended to our most illustrious guides - they know it is better to go too much left than not enough.) So I was hitting the left wall, spinning and blah blah blah. Much better this time. There is some video of this that I will try to post later.
The next biggie is called Salto Feo, "Ugly Waterfall". This is a dramatic drop that has a narrow runnable slot just left of the gut. There is a large hole that runs parallel and adjacent to the good line. So, if you are a few inches off to the right, into the hole you go. Or if you make the mistake of putting your blade in on the right, there is nothing down there to grab, and over you go. The pictures up top are a couple of shots of me running it clean. Notice the left blade is always in. That's the secret.
The third significant rapid is a portage, but you can opt to run the bottom part, called Last Laugh. We didn't run this bit the first 2 times, but did the third, and it was fine. I have video of that also, if I can get them to post.
Today:
We did an all day run on the San Pedro, which is about 2 hours south of here. The San Pedro is a beautiful, bathtub-warm river. Many of the rivers here run lake to lake. On the san Pedro, you put in on a lake and within a few minutes you are on the river. The water is a very clear turquoise color, and has shelves and ledges that look like travertine, but aren't. The riverbed is made out of volcanic ash that has compressed into mud ledges. The water looks and feels like the Caribbean. Here are some pictures of Bruce and Barbara dropping over a shelf.
The San Pedro is sort of deceptive. It is mainly a 10 mile scenic class 2 float, but it is punctuated by 6 or so big water drops. I was in the play boat and was getting tossed around pretty good.
Thanks to all who played "what's that bird?". Those of you who guessed Ringed Kingfisher, give yourselves 10 points. Subtract 5 if you Googled it.
Here's your next one. This dude is everywhere, and noisy as hell when you are trying to sleep. His local name is Bandurria, AKA Black Faced Ibis.
