Christmas in Patagonia

Leaving Colombia, I spent 5 days in northern Patagonia (Argentina) making a long and intentionally slow journey to Futaleufu, Chile. My favorite activity in Bariloche was renting a bicycle and doing the circuito chico which is a paved but lightly trafficked road tracing the coast of the peninsula northwest of town in Nahuel Huapi National Park. 

Circuito Chico

The circuit is 27 km long and can be done in a few hours, but I took my time and made it last an entire day by climbing Cerro Llao Llao along the way which led to beautiful views of three big lakes going off in opposite directions.

Lago Nahuel Huapi National Park from Cerro Llao Llao summit

Alun Nehuen beach

Hotel Llao Llao and Nahuel Huapi

Next up was El Bolson. Somewhere I had heard that there is good climbing here, and the nice lady at the tourist info center said I would find a great crag at the lake. She sounded confident enough, so I grabbed my climbing shoes and jumped on a bus to Lago Puelo national park.  

Lago Puelo National Park

I quickly found the cliffs that the lady had pointed out on the map, but the rock quality was poor and there were no routes to be found.  I did find a few small boulders which at least provided an excuse to put on my climbing shoes. A curious group of boys came over to see why I was spending so much time attempting to climb a big rock when there was an easier way to get on top. I don't think they had ever seen climbing shoes, so I let them try mine on and taught them the basics. They loved it, and we took turns climbing until 10 PM before catching the last bus back to town.

One of my bouldering partners at Lago Puelo

After not being able to find a kayak to rent to paddle the rio azul, I decided to continue south. The bus system in Patagonia is convenient but not entirely reliable, and after an unplanned night in Esquel I finally made it to the border with Chile the next morning. So stoked to finally make it!  

Futaleufu is a small town with a population of around 2000 people, and not far from the famous Carretera Austral road running through Patagonia. The town looks very unassuming from the main square, and I'm sure that most tourists don't spend more than a day here if they stop at all.  

Rio Espolon just upstream of hostel Las Natalias

It only took me a few minutes to find a kayak and gear to rent from one of the many raft shops on the square. Most kayakers stay at Cara Del Indio, which is a private campground on the banks of the river about 40 minutes outside of town.  If you are just passing through and want to meet up with other boaters then staying here is your best option.  I didn't have a car or camping gear so opted to stay near town at an awesome place called Hostel Las Natalias, which is owned by a kayaker named Nate Mack.  There were several wwoofers and a few kayakers staying there as well, and it was a really fun group of people that I ended up spending a lot of time with.  

Rio Espolon

Evening Espolon lap with La Teta in the distance

I joined the kayakers Todd and Elena that night for my first lap down the Futaleufu river. We put in on the Rio Azul for some low volume creeking before hitting the confluence with the futa and the start of the terminator section. Terminator is one of the most massive rapids I have ever seen, and with the river running med-high (70-80 on the middle bridge gauge while I was here), it was a continuous string of white for a half mile with bus-sized holes scattered throughout. Luckily the sneak line is fun! We also ran the bridge to bridge section, which is the stretch done by most of the commercial raft outfits. The futa is widely recognized as one of the best whitewater rivers on the planet, and I have been dreaming about paddling this for years. It was an awesome feeling to finally make it happen, and it did live up to my overgrown expectations.  

Fresh off my first futa lap

My time spent here was exactly what I was hoping for. I 'worked' most days as a safety boater for a raft company in exchange for a ride to the river and an occasional takeout beer. This was the height of summer in Patagonia when it doesn't get dark until around 11, and every night provided some social gathering around town. One night we hosted a diska, which is a traditional Argentine barbecue where the food is cooked on an old plow disk over a fire. Another night we all joined a truco tournament which went on until sunrise.  

Diska cookout

The people here are so open and accepting of outsiders that it felt like I had been here for months. In a short time I got to know most of the young people in town, and also learned tons about the culture which is something you don't get unless you stay in the same place for a while. When I originally got to town I thought I might stay 3 days, but 2 weeks later I was still here and loving it. I've been very fortunate to visit quite a few different places, but Futaleufu stands out as one of my favorite spots on earth. 

Aside from boating most days, I did take a few days to climb the two most prominent peaks around town, and even put up a few climbing routes near the hostel.  First was a trip up Tres Monjas (three nuns) which tower over the Futa valley.  

Tres Monjas

Jack and I kept up a great pace but had no map or beta on how to get to the top, and as a result spent 13 hrs RT of bushwhacking/hiking/scrambling plus a cold night sleeping on the ground during our adventure.  

Futaleufu Valley

Nearing the top, Tres Monjas

Jack scrambling up near the top of Tres Monjas

We climbed up a false summit and would have required a sketchy traverse to reach the biggest spire which supposedly climbs 5.10b.  With no climbing gear we decided against an attempt.  Despite not reaching the true summit, it was a really great 24 hrs.  

Lago Espolon and La Teta in the distance

Jack silhouetted near the center of the photo working along the knife ridge

Next was La Teta, the uniquely shaped peak visible from town. This climb was much easier than Tres Monjas, but the views were just as good.

Hanging lake

South face, La Teta

The crew working up the ridge line (two dots near the left edge of the snowfield).
Futa town and Tres Monjas in the distance

Lago Espolon

The south face looked like a fun climbing project, but on this day we took the easy route up the backside. As far as I know the face has yet to be climbed. The peak was covered in a thick layer of volcanic ash from the Chaiten Volcano which had erupted nearby in May of 2008, wiping out half the town of Chaiten in the process.

La Teta summit

Christmas day 2013 we launched from the hostel for a Todos Futa run, with 30 miles and 47 named rapids before hitting the takeout. We paddled down the Rio Espolon to the confluence with the futa, and shortly hit the mouth of Inferno Canyon. Scouting the first rapid, everything looked very straightforward for a section that was given so much respect. Nate repeated what we already knew, that this was high water in the canyon, and swimming wasn't an option.

Gates of Inferno / Entrada

Climbing back into our boats, Nate glanced at me and said something like "nothing to it, right?" with a look that made me unsure whether he was serious or joking. Down the center, avoid the huge hole on bottom right and the cliff on the left; easy enough. As we dropped in and hit the first wave, I realized what that look meant. From shore this looked like a small roller, but now it was breaking over my head, and directly on the backside of the wave the entire river turned to a chaotic mass of white and blue water crashing in from every direction. I got flipped, slammed into the wall and barely managed to hang onto my paddle while the water tried to rip it away. I rolled up and fought my way through the surging boils to the eddy below, humbled. Nothing to it.

Perfect Storm / Salida

If not for the hydraulics from so much moving water, it would be fairly easy to navigate. But just when you think you are on line a huge wave breaks on you or whirlpool surges up and all you can do is brace and try to stay upright until you are free, and hope that it doesn't send you somewhere you don't want to be. The canyon was a great run, but it was just the beginning of the day for us.  

Downstream of Dynamite, Inferno Canyon. Kayak on left bank for scale.

Zeta

We took the standard line at Zeta (portage + seal launch) and paddled down to Throne Room. It is a big, fast rapid with a right to left move to avoid dropping in to the toaster seam on river right.

Throne Room entrance

The only time I was on shore with someone paddling was at Throne Room, which finally gave me a chance to get a kayak in the frame to show some scale. The first photo looks like an easy rapid with one pour over to avoid and a few small holes scattered around.  

Throne Room

Now compare that with the video still of Nate to give it some scale.

Throne Room

There was some really fun class IV rapids in the wild mile and then more flat before we hit the confluence with the Rio Azul, and back to the sections that I knew so well by now. We bombed down terminator section through the rain, and I think we were all getting a bit weary. Luckily some kind souls at the Bio Bio camp threw two beers into the river as we passed by, and a red bull wouldn't have fired us up more. We routed the bridge to bridge section without stopping, and then dropped into the Casa de Piedra section. Mas O Menos is one of my favorite rapids on the planet, with the biggest crashing waves on the river. We ended the day on the Macall section before a long drive back home. What a great Christmas day, and the highlight of my time in Patagonia!

Having finally paddled the entire Futa and with only one week left before meeting back up with Shana, I decided it was time to pay my first visit to the whitewater capital of South America: Pucon.