Paperwork, isn’t that what we are trying to escape while on vacation? Unfortunately it has caught up with us in Argentina, and delayed us for a few days. Thankfully that’s behind us now and we head into Chile. Views are incredible as to head to the border and gaze in awe at Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America.

Although Aconcagua quickly fades behind us, the excitement level is palpable as we get closer to the famed Rio Claro. Only an hour is spent wandering around trying to find the correct put-in for twenty-two teacups. The water clarity justifies the rivers name, and although the river is low, we have a good time bombing down though the section that contains a few falls higher are higher than look from the lip. With beta from too many sources, we aren’t sure what section is where. So we take out, only to put back in just a few hundred yards downstream. Perhaps it’s for the best.

Despite the low water, we are dead set on running the infamous Garganta del Diablo section. And find it we do. In no time we are standing at the lip wondering just how hard the hit will be with our, hmm, fifty to one-hundred cubic feet of water. Surprisingly the hit isn’t too bad as I throw my paddle and focus on keeping the bow of my Karma down. Great, got that behind us. Now we’re above the infamous crack drops, that are even more crack like than at normal flows. Too bad a few team members forgot to put on elbow pads! Good thing I remembered mine, as I have no bruises at the bottom. Too soon we are paddling through the magical falls that plummet into the river from high above. We see a take out option on the left but continue downstream, following the beta we’d received. Bad idea, after a few drops we are locked into an un-un. Un-portagable, un-runable crack with wood. Oddly enough we are not the first to do this. Thanks to the rock climbing skills of a Slovenian team member we are able to attain back upstream to the correct take out, walking past some scary tarantulas on the trail as the light fades away. It’s good be in Chile and adventuring.