The Turbio is undoubtedly in my Top 5 Most Beautiful Rivers list. A small creek that flows into the valley of Pucon, the creek is lined with vibrant yellow flowers and class IV-V rapids. To add to the aesthetic, the putin has two amazing waterfalls coming in for a awesome start to the day.
We were driving to the put in and felt compelled to stop and get some shots.
When we arrived in Chile the Turbio had actually already dropped to be too low to run; however, we were fortunate enough to get a days worth of rain which brought the river up to a runnable level. In true kayaker fashion, we started heading up the valley at around 3pm.
To put on this river, you park your truck at the take out and hike your boat up the entire length of the section you are going to run. The trail is pretty much creekside, so you can scout the run on your way up and get a decent feel for it. All in all, the run is not too hard, mostly IV+ rapids with some clutch moves to make.
Chris Baer on the Hike Up
As you can see from the photo above, the river pretty much falls off and into the valley. It feels like you are going to magically appear in the valley below around each bend.
Bryan Kirk taking in the Putin Rapid
The putin is pretty awesome. Apparently, the river left falls has been run by Demshitz and a few other crews. It lands in shallow water and the run-out makes you run a mandatory knarly 6′ sloped pour-over with a huge boil backing it up. We chose to skip the mankiddy mank and just run the fun stuff below that.
Bryan boofing at the top of the slide
Chris Baer runs the Putin Slide
Chris finishing the rapid with a sweet 8' boof
Further downstream has various IV+ rapids, some which merit a quick look. Lots of fun boogie water with spectacular scenery.
Bryan Kirk boofs one of the drops in the middle of the run
The run out of that drop. There's a bad siphon on river right further upstream
Chris Baer running the takeout 25 footer
Right below the cars at the takeout is a sweet 25 footer. Chris went a bit more vertical here than he would have liked, but came out alright.
Below the takeout drop. Very nice!
The Turbio is a super cool place. Just one more reason why Chile is the promised land…
I am trying to catch up with my posts here (a seven month lag isn’t that bad, right?). To see more photos from this trip, visit my Picasa Web Album.
Cheers,
-Adam Johnson
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One Comment
This run has a special place in my heart. I had to be resuscitated, long story.
I don’t know if it is the basaltic flow, the fact that the water is coming off the volcano, the sight of the volcano or the horizon line… but this place gives a special energy.