February 1, 2007

Photos

By Brad Sutton

The whitewater kayaking experience I just had in Costa Rica is one I will never forget! It all started a few weeks ago with Mario Vargas from Costa Rica picking us up from the airport in San Jose. Mario drove directly to a hotel where our game plan came together to run as many rivers and different sections of rivers and canyons in the surrounding area due to the abundance amount of rain the rivers were getting.

We had a trip on the Rio Patria, which had amazing class V whitewater for nearly nine miles long before coming out into the confluence of the Rio Sucio. This trip took us three days in total and had more than at least five or so mandatory portages. I can only explain this river best as a shallow vertically steep run with must make boof's and micro eddy catches. At certain spots in the river you could see down stream for maybe a few seconds, see multiple horizon lines, and slot moves everywhere. The Rio Patria was one of the most challenging runs I have ever done. The Rio Patria all starts with a grueling three-hour hike on a muddy trail slipping and sliding on your feet with 65 pounds of gear trekking along side a ridge with a 75 degree slope falling hundreds of feet beneath you.

Once you arrive to a few channels of water coming together you know you have finally made it to the put-in. Day 2 started with a few really manky boney moves over ledges and around boulders. Then you see the river go through a boulder garden with a land slide on the left and canyon walls rising high with a slot move entering the canyon. Once in the canyon you are locked in and had to run a mandatory 20 footer into a seventy footer, it was the biggest drop I have ever run.

We also had a run in a canyon on the Rio Sara with vertical and overhanging walls nearly five hundred feet high. Later on in our trip we got on the Rio Toro for some creek boating with Mario and took out at a natural hot spring ending our trip on a great note.

Here are a few photos from the trip, enjoy, I would like to thank my sponsors Jackson Kayak, AT Paddles, Level 6, & FNA headgear. Look for article write ups and video to come out soon by Ben Stookesberry and Boyd Ruppelt.

Brad

Hotel Charley Section