PURA VIDA! Costa Rica Trip Report!

Photos

By Boyd Ruppelt

The Costa Rica trip happened for one reason. Brad wanted to run big waterfalls, and he had his eye on La Fortuna… What really happened on our trip, turned out to be completely different than what any of us had expected and because of the ice storms, our photographer, Lucas, never made it to Costa Rica. Luckily Samantha had trusted me with her camra for the trip so we were still able to get some pictures.

After picking up Ben Stookesberry and his girlfriend, Lizzie, we took off to Sarapiqui and for a warm-up on the upper gorge of the Pozo Azul. The Pozo Azul was a bit on the low side, but the waterfalls were great! They proved to be a sweet warm-up for Costa Rica! I was thoroughly impressed with the new Rocker. It plugged great but was especially smooth on the lip and when resurfacing. It smoothly, but quickly, resurfaces upright and balanced with ease! After some easy, shallow, boulder mank, we eddied out above the lip of the big one, Pozo Azul Falls. It’s probably the most run waterfall in Costa Rica, but you can’t deny its quality… it’s a great drop for practice or a good warm-up. After our run down Pozo Azul, we took off for La Paz and a quick scout of the La Paz waterfall. Personally, I felt that it was a bit low for a run. The pool depth was about 10′ lower than where it’s usually run, probably pushing the falls into the 90′ range. Brad decided it would go and decided to fire it up "tomorrow’… so the next day after more rain, we all showed back up at La Paz in the morning hoping it would have more water. It didn’t. Brad was not feeling well that morning so the La Paz/Fortuna idea was deifnitely off, and our focus shifted from park-&-huck waterfalls and easy access to the places kayakers in Costa Rica just don’t typically go. Our focus and expectations were quickly shifted as our sense of adventure became more bold and we began to truly explore Costa Rica. Ben was ready to leave the overdone waterfall silliness and go on a real mission.

We heard rumors about kayakers running a section of the gorge below the La Paz Waterfalls before, but we couldn’t find any info. On our way up to La Paz we found a waterfall in the gorge way off in the distance, probably about 300 ft tall. It looked like it would really be hard, if not impossible, to get to the base of the waterfall, but we became interested in putting in at its base and running the gorge below it. After talking to some locals, the hike sounded like a bad idea… but exactly what I think we were all looking for. Before we knew it, Ben had paid a local man, Senario, to show us the way into the gorge as our jungle guide. With only 5 hours of daylight left (4 in the jungle) we quickly geared up for the hike in. Ben, Lizzie (his girlfriend), me, and Senario took off down a hill and through a field and into the rainforest. Within the first 5 or 10 minutes Senario turned around and warned us not to get an upcoming tree into our eyes and not to rub our eyes after touching it. If we did, he said, it would make us blind. Before I could say much of anything, we’re climbing through this tree and another and another, pretty much setting the mood for the rest of the hike. The rainforest is an interesting place, but it seems like everything in it will kill you or mangle you somehow… everything seemed poisonous or sharp, but absolutely beautiful. climbing our way down the steepest, mudiest forrest floor I’ve ever seen, we could finally hear water! Once in the river and with the sweat washed away for a moment, we began our trek upstream to the base of the waterfall.

The craziest thing about having Senario as our guide was that once we reached the river, he still kept up. We told him he didn’t have to go up with us, but he insisted. He couldn’t swim and had no gear. But somehow he made it from one shore to another heading upstream like a persistent, half-drowned rat…with the biggest smile I had ever seen, only stopping to dump out his rubber boots. We were truly humbled by our crazy guide…us in all our paddling gear, helmets and everything. And we were glad to have it on! After finally making it to the base of the falls, we realized that we had a potentially great run, but that we really needed more water before we could consider it. The yield for good drops at that level was simply too low for the amount of time and danger to get in there. Running out of daylight and with the risk of being in the jungle in the dark growing, it was time to make our journey back out of the gorge. Senario was impressed and we made record time for our round trip! That night after guaro shots and a good meal, we were still ready to go on a mission.

Ben had picked out a small section of the Rio Sarapiqui (the rio Sara) that had never ben done before into a section that we had heard of being done once before… the information was sketch at best, but with a steep 4+ miles of river to run, we put on expecting to spend only a day on the river… with the unlikely possibility of one night out. Myself, Ben, and Lizzie packed our expedition gear with a little bit of food in preperation for the worst while brad stayed behind with Mario and Cory to nurse his sick stomach. I only packed 3 cliff bars thinking we probably wouldn’t take long on 4 miles; we all felt more than confident. We had no idea how wrong we were! The rapids started off as class IV and V boulder gardens, nothing too stressful or difficult. It continued this way until we reached a small powerhouse on the left where we were faced with a difficult boulder choke into a 20′ waterfall with a long sliding enterance that all seemed to flush right through a caved out wall. All deciding to error on the side of caution we portaged with our first rapel into the pool below where we entered a new gorge. Once locked into the gorge, the rapids changed in nature completely. After eventually running out of daylight, we found our camp for the night. It was the most beautiful place I’ve ever camped and one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen! The next morning we were thinking… "yeah… we’ll get off today." We had no idea how wrong we were. The moment we left camp and around the the next bend we began dropping into a canyon… a deep, overhung, soaking wet canyon with back to back class V and V+ boulder gardens with no escape. 3 days after putting on for a 4 mile trip, we finally made it out of the canyon and back to civilization.

You would think after being locked in a canyon for 3 days, that we would be in the mood for a break. Brad was feeling better though, and fresh rains meant the Rio Patria would most likely be prime. We immediately began to prepare for another overnighter… the Patria. The next morning we got a later start than we hoped, and the whole day just seemed to stay slow. Once geared up and at what we thought was the beginning of the hike into the Patria, Ben and Brad realized we were at the wrong spot… it was a mad search for the trail and their memories as we were running out of daylight. Not long after, Ben found the right trail. With the thought of just trying again the following morning, we decided to press on into the gorge. The hike into the Patria is the steepest, mudiest trail I have ever seen. Roots and vines were a constant problem while the trail seemed to constantly give way into a mudslide through the forrest below for hundreds of feet. Many times the trail was only wide enough for one foot while the mud on it was deep enough to reach my knees, nearly pulling my shoes off a few times. A 3 hour hike through the rainforest doesn’t do the hike justice at all; it is much harder and more complicated than that. Eventually we made it to the Rio Patria, where we scraped and beat our way down about a mile to our first campsite of the trip…shortly above "the gorge." The next morning we made our way to the gorge on the Patria, sporting 3 drops in a mini-canyon with the last one nearly 70 ft tall. Ben portaged with the camra and I set video above the drops… thinking of running it, but opting for the portage. I’m still kicking myself for not going for it, but that is just a part of the experience of it all… maybe next time. Brad was the only one who ran it, having waited for his second chance for about 9 years! I won’t wait 9 years for mine… I can’t wait to go back!

It was really cool to see Brad step up his game and run the biggest waterfall of his life. He had a sweet line, but broke his paddle on impact.

Below the gorge Brad and Ben remembered easier rapids (V- with some V), but the river bed had completely changed. Only one rapid was recognizible to them and more portages and sick boulder gardens were waiting downstream. Trying to make it to the Rio Sucio before dark, we started making some incredible time down tight, technical class V rapids through blind slots and stout holes. Late that evening, it became apparent that we weren’t going to make it so we found a camp for the night, hoping the rain would finally let up (it rained the whole time), It didn’t. After pouring on us the whole night, the rain brought the river up 2 ft that night. This seriously juiced things up for the next morning, nearly reaching our camp. We geared up for an exciting run to the Sucio… we had no idea. The first rapid of the morning was a slotty drop into a large fold and into some really big holes; and it didn’t stop there. We were in for a serious ride, fully testing the big water capabilities of the Rocker in an extremely technical and dangerous environment, fully loaded down with expedition gear. Once we made it to the Sucio, the water turned yellow with sulfur and the water got even bigger… a fun stomping ride to the bridge in Puerto Viejo… the completion of our second 3-day expedition in a row!

Finally off the Patria, it was time for me to pack. The next morning I had to get back to San Jose from Sarapiqui to catch my plane back to Memphis… and that was a journey to say the least! I can’t wait to see the video…. you can check it out in the upcoming Hotel Charley: River of Doubt movie by Clear H2O Films. I learned a lot on this trip from a group of amazing new friends in a place I can’t wait to visit again! The journey was amazing and the change of plans lead to exactly what we were all looking for… though once at an unexpected time. Mario and Cory were awesome for driving us around a showing us a great time….HUGE thanks Mario! Thanks to Jackson Kayaks, Ben, and Brad for bringing me on this trip!

Pura Vida !

Boyd 🙂