H20 + Wine + Adrenaline = Futa Spine Tingler

By Author: Robert LaGrone
Total Articles: 7
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H20 + Wine + Adrenaline = Futa Spine Tingler

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Epic Rio Futaleufu

I was very lucky. The grey Patagonian sky began to clear soon after the other guests had left Puerto Montt airport in a van. They would have a scenic but tiring three-hour drive to our riverside hideaway. Harvey King, the trip leader, informed the few of us remaining that we would actually get there first. Hearing the good news, we picked up our bags as, outside the terminal, twin propellers started turning.

Fly In & Walk Home

Chile lies at the end of all roads, writes Isabel Allende in her lovely memoir, My Invented Country. No one passes by casually, however lost he may be. Why were we northerners traveling to this most southerly of nations? If you're a whitewater enthusiast, you've no doubt heard the Mapuche Indian word Futaleufu (pronounced fu-ta-le-FOO). It means Big River.

...
... nto The Andes

The flight through the Chilean Andes reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. The two landscapes are shaped by the same volcanic, tectonic, and oceanic forces. When I say through the Andes , I mean it: for half an hour we craned our necks as rocky peaks loomed above us on either side. Then we looked down as the plane dropped into a placid valley, and beside the sparkling Futaleufu was our destination, the lodge at Antucamay. As we ambled up the gravel road from the airstrip, a guest named Michael remarked, You've got to love a place where you fly in and walk home.

Antucamay, another Mapuche word, means God's Creation. H2O Patagonia created the central quincho in traditional style, with a roughly circular main room built around a large fireplace. Outside is a wooden patio with a hot tub. A second building contains bathrooms and showers, and a third is dedicated to massages. Closer to the water are comfortable sleeping cabins. Even if you're not tuckered out from a day of rafting, riding, or hiking, the sound of the river will lull you quickly to sleep.

In the Southern Hemisphere familiar things that you've seen all your life are turned upside-down and are suddenly new. The sun curves differently across the sky. The stars are shifted, and you see the Southern Cross instead of the Big Dipper. It takes at least a day's flying to get down here, but in that one day you've gone from winter to summer — and it's time to get in the water.

Pillow Fight

It couldn't happen in a dangerous-sounding rapid like Chaos, Puma, or Condor. It had to happen at Pillow Rock. This innocently named Class IV rapid was actually the most challenging of our first day. The river flows around a huge boulder, with enough of the current pouring over it to form a pillow of water on top. I shared the bow of the raft with Bob, an experienced paddler. Our guide Stan said the goal was to slide around the pour-over, hit the hole below the rock as squarely as possible, and battle our way out. When we hit, the raft lurched violently left and dump-trucked us right into the river. It was a good learning experience on this training day, but it felt embarrassing to be beaten by a pillow.

Trying to surface, I found myself underneath a large object in the water. I tried to get clear, but it seemed to move with me. The large object had a life jacket strapped to it, and I was finally able to grab it and push off. I reached the surface and began laughing. The paddlers hurriedly climbed back into the boat. Seated beside me in the bow, the large object explained that he was reaching down to keep me from falling out when the increasing incline toppled him out, too. Good ol' Bob — he was going to make a great paddling partner. That night we laughed again at the video shot by kayak guide Josh. Stan had remained in the raft, but the four paddlers looked like leftover food scraped hastily off of a dinner plate.

Perhaps a quick primer on the
rating of whitewater is in order:

Class I: Gently rippling water; you crack open a cold beer.
Class II: Beer occasionally sloshes out of its can.
Class III: Can is unceremoniously dropped into raft as you grab your paddle.
Class IV: Beer can flies out of raft as you hang on for dear life.
Class V: You instantly forswear alcohol with newfound religious fervor.
Class VI: Considered un-runnable; you hope there's beer in heaven.

Of course, we weren't drinking during the day. This river is challenging enough already. By the way, if you ever run a rapid with a name like Care Bears, take it seriously.

The setting sun glinted off my glass of fruity Chilean Carmenere as we lounged on the patio. Inside, chef Rocio and her crew were preparing a delicious meal featuring organic produce from the garden and seafood from the nearby Pacific. H2O Patagonia offers custom trips for families, women, and even gay couples. This expedition, Adventures in Wine", featured tastings conducted by Alex, a highly trained sommelier from Santiago. It seems some of the best Chilean wines are not exported, and many contained some delightful surprises. Alex poured us a sauvignon blanc with the spice of a Gewürztraminer, and a Gewürztraminer with the crisp freshness of sauvignon blanc. Did I mention things can seem turned upside-down here?

Last Resort

The Mapuche were feisty natives who survived repeated attempts at subjugation by Spaniards and Incas. We too were thinking of survival as we put our rafts in the water half a mile above Inferno Canyon. A thin but ominous overcast dimmed the sky. We would run an easier rapid en-route as a warm-up: Class IV for breakfast, Harvey chirped. Pillow Rock had been Class IV, and it had eaten us for breakfast.

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Robert LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com


About the Author Robert LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com