Rio Colca - Lunar Canyon

The team paddling towards the impressive "Condor shower"

14/08/12 - 19/08/12

The Cañon del Colca is a stunning canyon which is beaten in depth only by its nearby cousin the Cotahuasi. Unlike the Cotahuasi the banks of the Colca are totally deserted and uninhabitted - even the Incas coundn´t muster the strength to build along it´s infertile and vertical walls. We found it a truly remote and exhilerating adventure through moonscape rock formations and azure blue waters.

Day 1-2

The Lunar Canyon section of the Colca took us 3 days to paddle and 3 days of transport to get to the put-in from Arequipa. The journey began with the team pilling into a bus from Arequipa at 2pm to Cabanaconde where we checked in to a hostel for the night. The following morning at the less sociable time of 5am we took a second bus to the town of Huambo. From Huambo the plan was to hire Burros (donkeys) to carry the boats down to the river.

Arriving in Huambo at 7am we where greeted off the bus by a group of Spanish kayakers with there tales of woe with regards to hiring donkeys to get to the river. They pointed us in the direction of their donkey driver in the hope he could aquire a few more and get us to the river with them. Unfortunately this was not possible and we spent a day wandering around town under intense negotiations to try and reach the river the following day. By evening there was still no confirmed plans so after checking into a hostel alarms where set early to get organised and leave Huambo the following day.

Alex in negotiations with a donkey man.

Huambo all became too much for Alby

Day 3

Awoken before the sun was up we were out and continuing our search for donkeys, within minutes we found the man used by our Spanish compardres! By the time the Sun was properly up over the surrounding mountain peaks plans where in place to take a truck to the end of the road before loading the boats onto donkeys and then trekking down to the river, all that was left to do was have breakfast! A dose of egg sandwiches and coffee later and we were ready to move.

Adam with Derek the Donkey

By 11am the donkeys were all loaded and the 6 hour trek down to the put-on hamlet of Canco could begin. The first km or so was nerve racking with boats falling off donkeys about every 100m. Eventually we refined our tieing-on technique and continued down the valley of the Rio Huambo which after 12km meets the Rio Colca. The scenery was stunning and the donkeys easily negotiated the difficult terrain with the boats - traversing scree slopes with precariously balanced kayaks on the back of tired donkeys above an almost shear 400m drop into the whitewater below was a testing experience.

Adam ensuring the donkeys went the right way

The view down to the river

We reached Canco at 5pm having decended a total of 2000m from Huambo and after a brief discussion with the locals headed to the aguas calientes (hot springs) in the river! The only access to the springs was via a rope bridge but getting into the hot springs, I say hot springs but perhaps "tepid eddies" is a better description after the day of stress in Huambo followed by the arduous trek was bliss!

Tom bravely crossing the river

A quick spot of male bonding in the hotsprings

Day 4

After the long couple of days the decision to have a lie in until 8 was made. However we were all woken during the night by rock falls down the face of the cliff on the opposite side of the river. At one point sitting up in the tents we could see sparks flying down as the rocks bounced into the river.

After a lesuirely start we were on to the clear blue waters of the Colca. The river started with pleasant grade 3 white water through massive cathedral like structures gouged out of the rock walls. After a few kilometers the Rio Mamacocha enters and the warm crystal clear waters and doubles the flow of the river. The rapids now start to pick up and the gorge opens slightly. Here we came across our first big rapid of the trip.

Tom leading the way

This rapid began with some nice grade 4+ boulder gardens before rounding a corner and forming 3 terminal looking holes up against a huge wall. Not knowing what lay in wait around the corner we all dropped into the first half of the rapid before jumping out to inspect round the corner. No one fancied the questionable line weaving through the huge holes on the second half of the rapid so we had a quick walk followed by lunch!

The team enjoying the first big rapid

Alby charging in

After lunch the gorge began to steepen up around the river and the rapids became fun read and run grade 4, giving out to some absolute gems within stunning surroundings.

 

Tim enjoying the fun!

Adam

The day ended when we found a nice grade 5 where the water dropped between some huge boulders, the left hand side held some slotty mess whereas the right had a nice clean toungue charging into a big curling wave. Alby, Alex and Tim elected to run the rapid in the evening, perhaps to avoid carrying their boats from the campsite in the morning, whilst Adam and Tom saved it for the following morning.

Tim barrelling down the last rapid of the day

Alby doing the same

Tim savouring a birthday cigar!

Day 5

This morning we awoke early to our morning gruel as we still had a lot of ground to cover in the canyon and after yesterday´s late start wanted to crack on. Sliding into the river from the campsite we were to discover a huge landslide had formed a massive grade 5 rapid, it looked fairly recent as there were still smaller pebbles on top of the boulders. After a good hard look and soul search everyone decided it was too early to attempt something this big so boats where shouldered, roped and dragged round.

Below the big rapid the river continued to give more classic read and run grade 4 for a few kilometers until the canyon opened up and we reached the spectacular condor shower. This is a water fall which crashes down the entire canyon wall, giving off nothing more than a fine spray at river level. We had been told that in the afternoon Condors fly through the spray using it like a shower! Unfortunately none made an apperance whilst we had a chocolate break on the rocks below. Past the condor shower the canyon again gorged up and the rapids came thick and fast. Before long the walls had become a chocolate brown colour and we were deep in the Chocolate Canyon.

Alex heading away from the siphon!

We stopped for lunch at a grade 5 rapid, although the line was not the hardest half the flow went under a rock and into a siphon on river right. Because of this only Alex stepped up to run the rapid the rest of us snuck past sheepishly on the bank!

Alex adding to the excitement of the rapid

As we continued through the canyon the walls really closed in into a steep sided gorge with the gradient picking up some rapids required bank scouting with everyone making their own desicions on what they wanted to paddle and walk.

A classic steeper rapid

Adam getting his gurn on

Finally the walls closed into an ominous looking gorge with a corner we could not see around, Adam snuck into an eddy and clambered out onto rocks and peered into the depths of "Reparaz" - the must portage siphon hell at the end of the Chocolate Canyon. Everyone jumped out in the last eddy and we started to pace the boats through the bouldery caves fromed by various landslides across the river.

Alby waiting for the boats

It took us about an hour to complete the portage and below it we were rewarded with the canyon opening out and soon found a sandy beach to set up camp on. Having been on the water by 8am and only stopping at 5pm this was our longest day on the river and everyone was excited about the dinner of pasta, sausage with tomato sauce!

Day 6

This would be our third day on the water and we awoke to find everything covered in dew. The stove was lit and we sat with coffee waiting for the sun to get up and dry out thermals for the day´s adventure. With everything packed away the team was on the water by 9am. After a few kilometers of grade 3 warm up we rounded a corner to discover a steep walled gorge with another ominous horizon line. This was Poles Canyon - eddying out we discovered an unrunable boulder jumble with no way to portage from our current position but a promising looking ledge on the opposite side of the river. A must make ferry to a small eddy on river right and we were underway roping the boats up the vertical cliff to the ledge before carrying them down to an even smaller eddy above an unscoutable must run grade 4 drop.

The portage in full swing

Unfortunately Tim had an explosive bowel movement midway through the portage and then had a tactical chunder in the eddy above the must run rapid! He made the line and everything was fine.

Tom and Alby enjoy the must run drop at the end of Poles Canyon

After the portage the gorge again opened up and the river contined with beautiful rapids in stunning scenery down to the confluence with the Río Andamayo. From here down to the take out village of La Central was, for me, some of the best read and run grade 3/4 rapids so far on the trip!

The canyon walls open out

Arriving in La Central we luckily managed to grab a lift from a cattle wagon from the river bank up to the main road. From there we flagged down a local combi who took us to the larger town of Aplao, 30 minutes drive away, from where we caught a 4 hour bus back to Arequipa.

Typical Peruvian transport with the gringo Kayakistas