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Chile Trip (Road To Futa) Nov-Dec

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3K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  mhelm 
#1 ·
Planning a 35 day mostly paddling trip to chile. Flying into Santiago November 18th, renting a suv and making my way down, stop by las trancas for a couple days to paddle local streams and some dh mtb at the ski resort, then to pucon to look for paddling crew to join the local rivers for about two weeks, going include a hike up villarrica and local mtb in pucon, and to final destination, the futaleufu for a week in a half, on the way back to santiago, stop by siete tazas for a couple days before flying out december 22nd. Going to be staying at hostels and camping throughout trip. Anybody interesting in joining for full or part of my journey, hit me up. Plans are flexible so tips, notes are greatly appreciated, cheers! (Note: I'm currently a class -IV paddler at best, going to be working my way to V throughout the trip)
 
#2 ·
Just a few thoughts for you having done a similar trip in 2011:
- Pucon is awesome. Rodrigo of Kayak Pucon was very helpful. If you hike Volcon Villarica, you may consider renting alpine gear or snowboard to make the downhill more enjoyable. We had half decent good corn conditions. The Volcano is awesome.
- Check on weather and water level for Futalafu. We skipped it due to a tight schedule, access difficulty and "high side of good" levels. At the time, a major road was knocked out, maybe that's fixed now.

Have fun. Such a great country and culture.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the tips, my backup plan is to stick around pucon if futafuelu doesn't work, although even without the futa the drive through the fjords is tempting enough, if conditions permit. Any recommendations for kayak bars/hang out spots for kayakers in pucon?
 
#4 ·
There is a little ex-pat hamburger joint in Pucon where I bumped into the the father of some big-shot-young-gun....forget his name. In any case, the dad pointed me to Rodrigo. I was down in Pucon with my wife just touring Chile and wanted to get a few days on the water. For a pretty reasonable fee (maybe $50/d), Rodrigo rented me stellar gear and guided me on Trancura and Palguin. It was pretty dope - hot tea and cookies at the takeout from Rodrigo's driver. Where I was going with all this is that the hamburger joint was a pretty good spot to meet kayakers. When i was there, the kayak hostel had a good reputation among Americans, but was not well liked by locals.

While in Pucon some other stuff worth doing: Thermas Geometricas - simply the coolest hotsprings I've ever been to. It's about a full day.

Other fun activity: Rent a rowboat later in the day, grab a bottle or two of white wine, throw the wine in a drag bag, row out to the middle of the lake and watch the sun set. Just a cool experience.

If you do make it down to the Futalafu area, as an alternative to kayaking the whole time, I've heard that Carratera Arstral is an amazing multi-day drive. Given the time you'll be there, I think mid-late December is typically the beginning of "prime-time" for the Fu. Much before that water is high and air is cold - if you're a solid big water boater, that's fine, but if not, it might not be so fun.

Only other tip was from Rodrigo when we told him we were staying in Santiago for a few days to tour: "Don't do that. Santiago is f*ck." Rodrigo's english wasn't eloquent, but he was right. The only redeeming grace we found in Santiago was really good completos.
 
#5 ·
When renting car in SLC be sure to tell them you plan on taking the car out of the country. Otherwise you won't have the right permission/paperwork to do it.
You can stay in Chile both ways to Futa via ferries from Puerto Montt. But it is much faster and interesting, to drive through Arg at least one way. Paddle the Manso, super cool.
If you plan the ferry route and stay in Chile book your ferry in advance.
Pucon is easy to figure out. I'll be there mid Nov and plan to paddle some.
Have fun!
 
#6 ·
If you want a Chile whitewater guide book (Whitewater Chile, a paddler's guide, by Tyler Curits), PM me your address and receipt for a $30 donation to AW and I'll mail my copy to you. The book is out of print and is more than $30 on Amazon.. Cheers, Dan
 
#10 ·
Hi. FYI, I know a guy from Canada - super nice
and excellent paddler - who will be in Chili with a few friends around the same time. I told him about you and he responded by saying the group could use another paddler. If you send me your contact info I can pass it on to him. He may also subscribe to Mountain Buzz and reach out to you directly.
 
#11 ·
I was in Pucon for 3 weeks over this past Christmas and stayed at the Pucon Kayak Hostel for a good chunk of it. The volcano hike was great and if it looks like the next day will be clear after some rainy days, get your reservation in quickly as they will only let a certain number of people go up and you must be with a guide, new rules after a partial eruption a few years back.
You can rent or buy boats from PKH and there is a pretty good whitewater store in town. There are multiple folks that come through as part of the kayakers hostel and are normally open to others joining their group, but Nov- early Dec is not a high traffic time yet for the area. You can pick the guests and PKH guides brains. There are more organized day trips that include a guide. It may be worth considering for harder trips or those with odd put ins or take outs or difficult shuttles. If nothing else check out their web site and then check out youtube. I will forewarn you that the classification of rivers varies based on what type of water you are used to and the difficulty of the rivers in the area. Compared to Pucon area, we somewhat overinflate our classification here at least in the class III to IV ratings. Also, the volume of the Trancura at that time can make a big difference on what it should be classified for you depending on your experience with big water.
Hope this helps. It is a gorgeous area and LOTS of river options.
 
#13 ·
I would echo a lot of what has been said. I would also point out a few must make runs while you are there. The Rio Maichin is beautiful with only one or two portages if you want to avoid class 5ish moves. The Upper Palguin is also a must... just do your research. The Rio Trancura,which goes right to Pucon is great. Upper section has a couple big rapids, but mostly class III/IV. It is also worth a 2ish hour drive to go to the Rio Fuy. The lower section is class III/IV of some beautiful continuous whitewater. The upper has some great waterfall drops... just check levels. Salto Huilo Huilo is a tourist trap, but great waterfall to view. The Rio San Pedro is amazing, if it's not dammed yet, full of big water class III with amazingly clear water.

Those are just a few amazing spots for your paddling level, but there is much more as well. Enjoy the trip! I'm definitely jealous.
 
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