Ecuador: A Season in Review

It's not possible to explain Ecuador in a blog post, so I'll just tell you about my experience.  I was privileged enough to spend 7 weeks in this amazing country, from Christmas until the middle of February.  I paddled 37 out of 49 days (if I was a baseball player, I batted .755, which ain't too shabby).  I ran 11 new rivers in 4 different regions of the country.  I am 1 of 10 people to ever run the Cofanes River, near the border of Columbia.  I only got sick once.  I did not shit myself (I was told it was an inevitability).  I partied one too many nights.  To make a long story short (which I do not claim to be good at): I had the time of my life and I cannot wait to return.

Volcan Antesana.

Rady Bug.

Chillin' in Tena.

Arriving in Quito on Christmas day was a surreal experience.  Clearing customs, I walked out and was greeted (scared) by Ken Kastorff, my lovable boss.  He's the best!  Once I realized I wasn't in trouble, I met Angel (pronounced on-hell, not angel), our driver.  Angel is definitely one of the coolest human beings on the face of the planet.  We rode through La Mariscal, through the party plaza, to our hotel.  I knew immediately this was going to be a little bit of a different scene than Costa Rica.

Flying in to Quito.

Party Plaza, near our hotel. Photo: Craig Parks.

Quito.

Week 1 was excellent, although it didn't start out excellent for me.  Craig "El Martillo" Parks and I went to scout the Oyacachi, near the town of El Chaco (where the sandals reside), and within the first mile I flipped and broke Craig's paddle.  Sweet.  Craig continued the run solo, and I got a ride to the takeout.  Two days later I found myself, and The Hammer, being dropped off deep in the jungle, to run a flooded Piatua.  I was pretty nervous putting on, but it ended up being one of the greatest runs of my life.  Huge white boulders and about 2,000 cfs: sick brah.  I also ran the Upper Misahualli and the Cosanga, both great class IV(+) rivers.  The week ended with New Years in Quito, which I don't need to expound upon.  What an introduction to this country!

Mmmmm...

Monkey Lodge, Archidona.

Upper Miss. Paddler: El Martillo.

 

Take-out path up to the Monkey Lodge.

Middle Quijos Canyon.

Looking in to the lava canyon, Middle Quijos.

Week 2 was definitely a treat.  Stephen Cameron and Jenna Watson joined us for a week of class IV+ action.  The previous week I had only paddled one section of the Quijos, the Middle Canyon, which is an incredible class III and IV section that drops through a few beautiful lava gorges.  Week 2 introduced me to the Upper Quijos (Baeza to The Property) and the Lower.  The Upper Quijos is continuous class IV creekin' until the confluence with the Cosanga, where it turns it to a class III/IV bigger water run (depending on the level of course).  The Lower Quijos is a BIG water class III/IV run with one of the biggest and hardest rapids on the river: "Gringos Revueltos" (scrambled gringos) which could be re-named "Joe's Backender".  The Lower gradually turns to flat water, amidst National Geographic quality scenery.

Upper Quijos.

Our driver hard at work.

 Week 2 also included runs on the Piatua, where we put-on at ideal flows and managed to out-run 2500+ cfs towards the bottom, Cosanga, Upper Miss, and the Oyacachi.  It was quite a week of "work."

Jenna Watson on the Upper Miss.

Angel is the man.

Bridge Rapid, Oyacachi. Paddler: Stephen Cameron.

Lower Cosanga rapid. Paddler: Stephen Cameron.

El Martillo on the Middle Cosanga.

Middle Cosanga put-in.

Piatua. Paddler: Dan Dixon.

Upper Miss rail slide. Paddler: Stephen Cameron

Shooting Antesana.

Week 3 featured the infamous "Juicebox Gang."  We always look forward to this group, and this year they did not disappoint.  They stepped it up and ran some solid class IV, in both the creekin' and big water categories.  The highlights included my introduction to the big water Jatanyacu, just outside of Tena, the Upper Miss., and the Lower Quijos.  The only downside was David Grey coming down with Ecuadorian flu, which I've heard is contracted from excessive interaction with livestock.  Thanks guys for an awesome week!

Scouting "Gringos Revueltos"

Juicebox Gang on the Lower Quijos.

Middle Quijos Canyon, Lower Put-in.

Crazy geology on the Middle Quijos. Paddler: David Gray.

Fairly obvious who wears the pantalones in this relationship.

Chillin' on the roof in Borja.

Sauna.

Hot Springs on the way back to Quito.

 Week 4 was a great class III+ week, after which we had 2 weeks off.  Craig and I shot down to Banos, and spent a week running the Topo and partying a little bit.  We were joined by a flotilla of dudes who knocked out the first group descent of "Chuchaqui Falls" on the Rio Verde east of Banos.

Bus station in Quito, headin' to Banos.

Hostal Princesa Maria, Banos.

Topo.

Topo stick bug.

Looking upstream at the bottom of the Topo.

Coolest shuttle vehicle ever.

Hiking up to La Virgen, Banos.

Banos, Ecuador.

Heading to run a waterfall.

Bone scouting the drop.

Chuchaqui Falls, Paddler: Charlie Watt.

From there, Jake, Charlie, Scotty, Dano and I spent 2 days getting to the put-in for the Rio Cofanes.  This was probably the highlight of my time in Ecuador.  We were the 3rd crew to run this section of river, which began as class IV/V creeking and ended with class V big water.  It. Was. Epic.
 

La Sofia.

Jake exiting the first gorge, Cofanes.

Scotty B. droppin' in to the 2nd gorge, Cofanes.

Dano at the 1st campsite, Cofanes.

Returning to Baeza, I finished my 2 weeks off with a Cheesehouse run.  The Cheesehouse section is the upper most section of the Quijos, below the confluence with the Papallacta.  It is super continous class IV+ (I would say V-) boulder drops, for approx. 4 miles.  I had been hearing about Cheesehouse for a long time, and was stoked to finally run it.  It was definitely harder and pushier than I expected, even at "low" flows.

1st rapid, Cheesehouse. Paddler: The Hammer.

 For our final week of trips, we were joined by a veteran cast.  We had a fun "low" water week, which was odd because, apparently, Tom Cowden always brings the rain.  Low water is without a doubt better than the alternative, as we got to run ever river on our planned class IV itinerary.  Even in my final week, I was running sections and rivers I had never seen prior.  The lower section of the Middle Quijos included "Curvas Peligrosas" and a few other big class IV rapids.  We accomplished a Jondachi/Hoillin mission, which began with a group of women (one of them pregnant) carrying our boats down a brutal path to the put-in on the Jondachi.  About 5 miles downstream, the Jondachi converges with the Hoillin, which continues on for another 7 miles or so.  This run is probably the most gorgeous run I paddled this season (which is saying A LOT!).  My final day in Ecuador was spent on the class IV+ Oyacachi and partying in Quito.

Scouting the 1st rapid, Oyacachi.

Lower Cosanga, Paddler: Tim Propes.

A few very nice ladies, about to carry our boats down a brutal trail.

Aforementioned brutal trail to the Jondachi.

Jondachi put-in.

Thanks to everyone who made this season happen, namely Ken, Juliet, and Craig, who put up with me for yet another year of adventure travel.

Next up: I have no idea.  I'll be in Pagosa Springs, CO slaying POW for an undetermined period of time, and there might be some CO paddlin' to be had before returning to the Southeast for another season in the Nantahala Gorge.  Maybe it will rain this year...

I'm out.