Mexico part 2: The Rio Verde....not the green.

Dropping off the 3rd waterfall with the other 2 in view (the 45 ft. is in the back)

After some good runs down the Micos and El Salto the group was itching for something harder. Aaron Koch and I talked it over and after getting some beta from our buddy Rocky we decided to go check out the 1st canyon of the Rio Verde.  This is not the Green that you hear so much about, but it is still some quality whitewater.  The group again consisted of: Chris Baer, John McConville, Aaron Koch, Fil Payne, and myself.

Only a few hours from Ciudad Valles and we were on the dirt road heading for the put in.  when we got to where we thought it would be we couldn't see any way down to the river.  So we drove back out to a farmer we saw working in the field and sent Aaron to get directions from him.  I guess the guy decided he would just show us the put in, so he with an orange in one hand and a gun in the other hand the farmer got in Aaron's Jeep and back we off we went to find the river.

Top of the 45ish footer

We knew that there were several waterfalls on this run, one around 40-50 feet, one 120ish footer, and several smaller ones.  So after running shuttle we put on and after a few small rapids we came to the first big horizon line.  This one looked to be 40-50 feet from the top, but a good landing and take off.  So Chris, John, Fil, and I played several rounds of paper, rock, 
scissors for who got to go first.  Chris won and fired off it with a good line.  I went next and although it was not the best looking line it worked out well for me.  Last, John gave her a go with another good line.

John McConville with style on the 45ish footer

Chris Baer making it look easy

The next drop looked to be about 20 feet, but there unlike the first one there was a cool class III lead in that made it fun, and then you could boof the s#!t out of it.

Hitting my boof on the 20ish footer

Aaron Koch getting ready to fly over the 20ish footer

Again there was a short pool before the next waterfall.  This one looked to be about 15 feet and there were other possible lines to the left and right depending on water levels.

John McConville on the 20ish footer

The center line on the 15is footer

After the 15 footer there was another 10 foot waterfall and a few rapids before we got to another big horizon line.  This waterfall was massive.  We guessed about 100-120 feet and at the water level we had it didn't look very runnable.  So Aaron and I hiked river right through cactus and then down a steep and narrow trail with barbed wire fence as a handle.  Then the rest of the crew lowered boats to us and hiked on around.

The trail around the 120 footer

Lower boats down the 120 footer. Notice the orange boat being lowered, 

and you can even see John and Chris standing on top of the rock.

Once all the boats were down Aaron and I got in and started to paddle downstream to check out the next rapid.  This one looked familiar from photos our friend Rocky had sent us. We decided to call it the "atomic elbow crusher" for various reasons.  We had heard that one of the paddlers of Rocky's group had dislocated his shoulder here.  It was a chunky lead in into a narrow slot with a big hole.  After looking at it for awhile Chris fired it up first and I wasn't far behind him.  Both of us got some downtime, but I won the award that day for longest down time.

Getting some downtime at "Atomic Elbow Crusher," notice my paddle blade

We knew the rapids would start to mellow out after the elbow crusher, but there was one last good rapid before a 45+ minute paddle out.  When we got to the take out it was dark and out shuttle bunny Marjie was sitting on the river bank hanging out with some locals.  We grabbed some take out beers and started driving back to Ciudad Valles, but we did stop for some tacos al pastor (al pastor is kinda like thick bacon, thus it is the meat candy of Mexico).

Fil Payne boofing the last real rapid on the 1st canyon of the Rio Verde

Mexico....part 1.5

So this is kind of a half post because it is all about one drop, El Torro.  Chris Baer had it in his head that he wanted to take on the bull.  So after everything was set up, he jumped in the ring and got on the bull for a crazy ride.  

Chris Baer lining up El Torro

El Torro is the put-in drop on the Micos.   It is somwhere around a 50 foot free-fall with a 20-30 foot slide lead in.  Check out more at http://whereisbaernow.blogspot.com/

Mexico!...part 1

So I know this is a little overdue, but better late than never right?

Lance Reif running Big Boy on the Cascadas Micos

What do kayakers do in the winter?  Some of us head to the ski slopes, some travel for more whitewater, but I wanted both.  So me, John McConville, and Chris Baer met up in Brownsville, Texas and crossed the boarder into Mexico for a month of paddling before I head to Tahoe for the winter.  Getting across the boarder was simple, we payed car registration and insurance and that was it.  We then drove about 7 hours to Ciudad Valles where my friends Aaron Koch and Marjie Young spend their winters working and playing for Adventura Huasteca.

Chris Baer making it look easy on Big Boy

On our first day Aaron and his friend Phil took us to the Cascadas Micos for some class III-IV waterfalls.  All the waterfalls have nice rolling lips formed by travertine rock.  Travertine is kinda like sandpaper.  It is really sticky but also quite soft, but it does make for some interesting features.  Only place I have ever been where you can walk back up the same waterfall that you just went over.

El Torro, the typical put-in for the Cascadas Micos

  The typical put-in for this run is at the base of a 70ish foot waterfall known as "El Torro."  We scouted it and all decided to stick with the normal put in.  It was a fun day of running drops forwards and backwards since there is not much consequence on this run.  

enjoying a stress free first day in Mexico

The hardest rapid on the section is "bad boy," which has a twisting slide lead in which if you bust over one of the waves it sends you into a big angled boof with potential for beat down.

Running the left side at Bad Boy

On day 2 of our trip we all headed to the El Salto for some more fun on travertine.  This run was similar to the micos but with more technical drops.  It is the same river as the micos, just further upstream.  The take out drop, El Mecca, has been run by a handful of boaters and it has tooled a few.

John McConville checking out El Mecca

Running the 20ish footer on the El Salto

John on the 2oish footer 

The last real rapid before El Mecca has a 15 ft. waterfall on the right of this nice line down the left, but just when I thought I nailed the line I got reminded how sticky this travertine is.  I stuck to the last "rock" to get around and fell off of it sideways and threw some cartwheels in my Everest before I paddled out.  I wasn't too worried about any danger, I could hear everyone laughing and cheering me on.

About to rodeo my creekboat

On day 3 we hopped on with Adventura Huasteca for a trip down the Tampaon, one of their commercial rafting runs.  The Tampaon is a beautiful river at the bottom of a deep canyon.  The trip was pretty entertaining for me to see what it would be like to raft guide in Mexico.  Marjie guided one of the rafts while Aaron took photos for the trip and the rest of us enjoyed some big waves and great views.

The crew enjoying the 5th canyon of the Santa Maria, aka the Tampaon

Day 4.  Chris, John, Aaron, Phil, and myself loaded into my Saturn (which we now named Linda) and headed off for the Rio Ojo Frio.  After asking for directions a few times we found the put in and decided to put on and worry about getting back to the car after the run.  The river was pretty similar to the El Salto, being that it was also travertine.  It was much lower volume than the things we had run so far and the trees overhang most of the run.  When we finished the run Aaron and I hitchhiked back to Linda pretty easily.  When we got back to the others they had got some great pictures of a man passed out on a gravel road.  Classic Mexican photography. 

Mexican Siesta!

Stay tuned...more to come!