The Paddler ezine WW kayak collection 2013 | Page 105

oes and
water…

Chile

Flag illustrations by Garyck Arntzen

has it all!

The ferry from Puerto Monte to Chaiten takes 11-12 hours. It
is one of only two easy ways to get into Patagonia and onto
the Rio Futaleufu. Our Ferry was a night ferry, and with the
help of a few hands of UNO and a little rum and coke I slept
soundly for most of the trip. Waking up with just an hour to go.
When we arrived in Chaiten I was unsure what to
expect. We had heard the town had been affected by
ash from a nearby Volcano two years previously and
that there was not much there. Driving off the boat a
heavy white cloud stood over the town. We drove
round parts, which seemed to be the heart – a school,
supermarket, and restaurants. But just a few blocks
away it was like something out of a zombie movie.
Devastated buildings filled with ash, barely standing.
Through the heart of it all a new paved road to the next
big town. It only takes us 30-minutes of driving to get
out of the mist, which stood, over Chaiten. The view that greeted us was mind
blowing. Green grass, tall trees, mountains and volcanoes, which made the ones
around Pucon, seem tiny and pathetic. But also so much dead vegetation, crippled
and dead trees all the while on this perfect paved road. The paving didn’t last
forever and we eventually slowed onto a dirt road on route to our destination,
Futaleufu.
Arriving at our campsite we get settled in, organize fresh bread for the morning and
hit the river for the first time in what feels like forever. The weather is finally hot but
this only seemed to make the dust road to the put in of our warm up section ‘Bridge
to Campsite’ feel much dustier. The Rio Futaleufu itself was a fantastic shade of
blue, the stuff that big volume dreams are made of. We all take turns figuring out
the way down and trying desperately to adjust to the different style of paddling than
what we had experienced in the north of the country. Marco is suffering from some
kind of illness and has spent most of the day feeling bad, he elects to sleep this one
off and take a break from kayaking, for today at least.

ThePaddler 105