Futaleufu River MultiSport

Your Patagonia tour continues with a transfer from Puerto Varas to the Puerto Montt airport for your forty-minute charter flight across the straits of Chiloe to the seaside village of Chaiten. Here van will meet the group to enjoy lunch in town. Next, we will travel south on the Carretera Austral towards Coyhaique before switching to a scenic one-lane dirt road along the Yelcho River toward Lago Yelcho with views between mountain peaks of waterfalls, creeks and hanging glaciers that feed the lush temperate rainforest valley below. The Futaleufu River flows into Lago Yelcho, a world-class trout fishing lake. It is also home to Coho salmon that swim unimpeded up the Futaleuf to the Argentine headwaters or downstream to the Pacific at Chaiten. On the way to camp, you’ll pass a few farms that are carved into the ancient rainforest offering a glimpse of Chileno style frontier living. Arrive at the Futaleufu base camp where your private tent platform, complete with river view and comfortable bed, will be waiting for you. After a short hike or a swim, you may wish to soak in the riverside hot tub or enjoy a hot shower before gathering in the sunset bar for the first welcome Happy Hour on your Chile tour. You’ll be introduced to the entire Fu crew and go over the week’s itinerary before enjoying a hearty dinner. (B,L,D)

Awaken to the warmth of the sun on the banks of the Fu and enjoy your first morning in camp where breakfast is served around 9 AM. A pre-breakfast yoga class is available on our customized yoga platform with river views. After a thorough safety briefing, the rafts will be launched from base camp, stopping at a safe ‘eddy’ a short distance downstream, to practice rescue drills and prepare to raft as a team. Your raft is head by a highly-trained and instinctive river guide with ace kayaking safety skills, who guides the boat from a stern-mounted oar frame. Guiding with oars does not detract from the paddling experience and provides greater control in pointing the bow straight through bus-size holes and fifteen-foot high ‘haystack’ wave trains. In addition, the rafts are supported by safety kayakers and a cataraft to ensure a safe experience. This style is consistent with any high-volume river that has strong currents where rapids graded IV to V+ rage on. Welcome to the Futaleufu!

The first section from camp down to Puente Futaleufu (the Futaleufu Bridge) is only six miles but offers more rapids per kilometer than anywhere else on the river. This non-stop fun is the perfect warm-up run. The rapids of note are El Cojn, the Cushion, and Mundaca, a local family name. A vehicle will be waiting at take-out for the twenty-minute ride back to camp. Those who would prefer a lower body workout to complement their paddling are welcome to run or mountain bike back to camp. At our base, go fly-fishing, try out a kayak, do yoga, nap in a hammock, enjoy the sauna, have a massage, go for a hike, play a game of chess or cards, or soak in the hot tub. A hot shower, either indoors or out, is a luxurious treat while camping in the remote wilderness of northern Patagonia. Of course, for the hardy, the river provides a refreshing dip for another memorable experience on your Chile tour. Try the (short) cliff jumping, too! Every late afternoon is Happy Hour with an open, hot tub side bar stocked with beer, wine, cocktails, soda and juice. Candlelight dinners featuring fresh locally-grown produce and delicious breads baked fresh daily by our neighbors are served in the open-air kitchen and dining area. After dinner, enjoy the campfire and the stars before retiring to your cozy tent on your private platform where the sound of the river will lull you to sleep. (B,L,D)

After breakfast and optional early morning yoga, you will launch your raft from camp following the same exciting route as yesterday to master your rhythm. Well break to have lunch on the river. This second day of your Chile rafting tour well pass the Puente Futaleufu (yesterdays take-out) and meet a big stomping continuous cascade of waves known as Mas o Menos, “More or Less”. This is a good stepping stone towards the first true technical Class V rapid, Casa de Piedra (House of Rock) waiting around the next corner, which you’ll have an opportunity to scout beforehand. It forms a series of water wheels that channel all of their fury into a final churning pit with a dragon’s back highway through it; that is, if you hit it on line. The remaining rapids on today’s trip are Class III and IV. If you have the energy and desire, you may again mountain bike back to camp. For everyone else, a vehicle will be waiting. Enjoy the rest of the day and get ready for yet another fabulous dinner and peaceful night riverside. (B,L,D)

After two days of mastering our raft together, today we learn how to navigate our own inflatable kayaks (or rubber duckies as they are endearingly known). Even for the river veteran, these inflatables are surprisingly fun and often a trip highlight. We head up canyon to the Rio Azul, one of the main tributaries of the Futaleufu, with class II/III rapids that offer the perfect learning opportunity to master your kayak with the help of your river guide and several safety kayakers. If you’re feeling bold try to take on the class IV rapid, Cheese Grater. Return to base camp for another relaxing late afternoon filled with your choice of activities or a delicious massage. (B,L,D)

Today’s horseback adventure travels deeper into the heart of Patagonia to the Rio Azul valley, where you’ll be surrounded by snowcapped peaks along an eight-mile trail paralleling the turquoise waters of the Rio Azul, with a stop for lunch along the way. Patagonia horses are quite the different varietyu002du002dwell-mannered but incredibly powerful work horses that are as mellow or as exciting as you would like to push. The local expert equestrians and our horse-ready river guide will lead us on an adventurous, three-hour ride. We will stop for a lunch of authentic Patagonia asado then have the option of hiking to the nearby 300 Cascada waterfall. Return to camp for Happy Hour at the sunset bar and the much deserved hot tub. (B,L,D)

After an early breakfast in camp, travel twenty-two miles up the road to visit the town of Futaleufu. You will have about an hour to stroll around this sleepy mountain town and its central plaza filled with fragrant rose bushes and cedar trees. We will continue on to our drop in on the Rio Espolon, a crystal-clear river that meanders for two miles before it flows into the Rio Futaleufu, one mile above the Inferno canyon. The upper canyon, where aggressive Class V paddling is required, is the most difficult section of whitewater on the river so we offer tamer river options for those who prefer a little less excitement. Five impressive rapids form a tight winding river passage creating an intense flow and the rushing adrenaline you dreamed of when you chose this Patagonia tour. Coming out of “Exit,” the last of these rapids, you enter into a long calm of many miles, though the current remains swift.

After a relaxing float, things pick back up at the ferocious Zeta rapid, where portage (walk around) is mandatory. There the crew will “ghost” boat the rafts through this treacherous rapid while you enjoy lunch on the rocks and the view of the crushing intensity of the rapid. The afternoon begins with “Throne Room,” a Class V+ rapid for kayakers, a ghost boat rapid for rafts. Walking around this rapid notice an almost ‘river wide’ hole that could destroy a raft. Back on board, a continuous Class IV corridor of rapids doesn’t let up until take-out at the Rio Azul footbridge. Here the rafts are left for the night, tethered onshore. Early evening is spent in camp getting ready for the evening festivities, a journey to the neighboring farm of Miguel Toro who at seventy years young is one of the most colorful and charming residents of the valley. At his Casa de Ti, his daughter, Blanca, and her partner, Umberto, will prepare a very special treat, a delicious Curanto dinner, the cuisine typical of the south of Chile and the island of Chiloe. (B,L,D)

Today is the trip’s peak of what we consider the best day of whitewater in the world, an unforgettable highlight of your Chile tour. After a wholesome breakfast, you head up river back to re-launch the crafts. Shortly downstream, the Rio Azul merges into the Fu and the river opens up offering breathtaking views of snowcapped peaks and the jagged ridges of the mountain called Las Tres Monjas (“The Three Nuns”). A four-mile stretch of warm-up rapids leads to “The Terminator,” the longest and toughest of the rapids of the trip. After scouting and studying your line, you’ll take the plunge and drop in to three miles of non-stop, exhilarating rapids. After this aerobic workout, the Himalayas, a mammoth haystack wave train, await. River calm returns, offering a gentle float into lunch served at base camp. The afternoon is yours to decide. For the river addicts, return to the rafts to complete the last challenge of the day: tackling as much whitewater as possible from camp to below Casa de Piedra. At take-out, cold beers and tea are waiting our triumphant day of exploration on the Fu. For the evening’s festivities, our neighbors, Rolando and Nelli, will prepare a typical Chilean asado of lamb roasted over a bed of coals, salad, potatoes and fresh-baked bread. Under a starry sky, the group, guides, and crew spends one last night together on the banks of the majestic Futaleufu. (B,L,D)

In the morning, our van will take you to Chaiten for your mid-day flight back to the real world of Puerto Montt (La Paloma airport). You will need to take a taxi to El Tepual Airport, PMC, for your connecting flight to Santiago. Your evening arrival in Santiago provides ample time to transfer to the international departure lounge, pass through customs and shop for duty-free wines to commemorate your thrilling Patagonia tour. (B)