High Adventure Caused by High Water, never a dull moment in Ecuador!

But, mind you it still matters!  The crew set off while I stayed behind at the lodge to do office work (damn it!  The office lady always misses the good adventures).  By the time the crew had breakfast and was ready to leave, the river had risen to only 3.5 on the gauge.  Not bad, as long as the Oyacachi wasn’t huge, they should be good to go.

All the rivers along the drive to the put in looked high, but not crazy high.  They put on the river at 25 on the gauge.  That’s a nicely high level.  All was going great until a rapid called “Welcome to the Jungle.”  It definitely lived up to it’s name this day.  There were 2 swimmers; and during this time, the river at the lodge went from 3.5 to 8 in 25 minutes.  The Oyacachi, Santa Rosa and Bombon creek all exploded at roughly the same time and while Don and Greg were rescuing swimmers and boats the river came up, and up, and up and more or less went off the charts (not off the gauge since the put in gauge goes up to 69) but off the charts from a kayaker’s perspective.    And, if you are wondering, you definitely do NOT want to go if the gauge reads 69.  But don’t worry, you wouldn’t be able to make it to the put in at that level since all bridges would have long since been washed out.

So, while some of the kayakers were dreaming of low volume runs, the river KEPT raising.  Before too long it was the highest level I’ve seen at the lodge this season and the roar of the river was drowned out by the sound boulders tumbling down the river.  Then…the dry land part of the tour began!  It was a lovely jungle hike to where Memo was waiting with the Sprinter and some nice dry clothes.  Cold beers and Empandas were next.  So while it wasn’t the best day of boating ever, it was an awesome adventure that I know everyone will remember!

And the Piatua did not disappoint!  14 kilometers of continuous grade IV and IV+ whitewater.  Truly and kayaker’s dream.  Combine this with Toucans and Chi Chiko monkeys and you’ve got yourself one totally awesome day of kayaking!

 Martha, in her 2nd week with us in Ecuador, stayed strong to paddle 14 days in a row!

The gang also got a great level on the Upper Misahualli River, the Lower Cosanga, and then on the last full day they went back into the Lower Quijos to face the demons.  

Now the tally is Torrents group 1, Rio Quijos 1.  This time around the run was a great success.  The gauge at the put in was 19 and stayed that way all day long.  Big water rapids, and big wave surfing defined the day.

The February 4th Torrents crew got a great taste of Ecuador.  They had sun, they had light drizzles, torrential downpours, low volume creeks, big volume creeks and rivers, and flooding rivers.  They saw great birds, jungle mammals, and got up close and personal with the rainforest along the banks of the Quijos. 

It’s a week I’m sure they’re unlikely to soon forget!