High in the Desert- Argentina

Dry arid wind removes any moisture from our gear as we sleep. Too dry. We’re stuck in northwest Argentina with low water for two more days as we wait on the correct paperwork which will allow us to take our rental car into Chile. We make some calls to see what the options are, and they are slim. High above the river it’s hard to tell what we might be getting into. Far down in a canyon we see rapids and one sliding falls. Is it 100cfs or 1,000? There is only one way to find out. Getting to put-in requires finding an obscure trail that will allow us access below a crazy section where the river goes underground. Water looks a bit low when we reach the river, and getting on requires a fifteen foot seal launch, good thing the hike in got us loosened up.

We make quick progress down river. Too quick. The river is low, and promised IV-V turns out to be II-III. The scenery makes up for it though, as we have time to gaze around in this amazing high desert canyon. Twenty minutes later we take out wishing for more whitewater. Packing the car up, we head back to Mendoza hoping to pick up our paperwork and head over the pass into Chile, hopefully in time for the famed Rio Claro