Terminator

We are still in Patagonia, Chile, relaxing and enjoying a kayaker's life.  Every morning we eat delicious food, I play cards with Hannah for about an hour, we go out boating, and we come back to repeat the same cycle.   Today, we boated the only class II section on the Futaleufu River, but later looked at the hardest class V, Terminator. 



In the late morning, we paddled a small section of the Futaleufu River.  We put in at the bottom of big rapid, stretching our legs after the long car ride.  Aren told us that we had an opportunity to ferry across the river to the eddy on the other side and, after walking to the top, run the rapid.  Most of the class II rapids I have done have been in medium sized rivers, with some technical moves, small waves and rocks.  This was different.  This river was amazingly wide and vast, had big waves, and hardly any rocks.  My ferry below the rapid went fine, but the immense size of the waves I was passing through was intimidating.  After ferrying, we carried our boats to the top of the rapid.  There, we ferried to the middle of the river where we took the center right line down the run.  During the run, I caught an edge, tried to roll in the big waves, and swam.  I grabbed onto the back of Aren’s boat and he paddled me to shore.   My next opportunity to try that rapid again, I will take it and show it who’s boss.  The rest of the run went well with no more extremely tricky rapids.  I was impressed by the stunning scenery of high and towering cliffs.  

On the way back home, we stopped by Terminator, the biggest class V on the Futaleufu.  We parked the car and walked for about thirty minutes towards rushing water.  Soon, we came upon a massive rapid.  Aren and Dad were talking about different lines that one could take, but I just saw a mass of boiling water.  I started to understand the line when we saw two boaters run the hard left.   I did not have my camera with me so these are Mom’s pictures.



I hope tomorrow will be as great a day as today.  I had fun running the lower section of the Futaleufu and am excited to run the rapid again, this time staying afloat.   I also loved seeing Terminator and was amazed at the skill of the boaters we saw running it.  Tonight we will eat an yummy serving of fish followed by a sizzling, hot apple crisp!





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