We began Day 8 by running Hot Springs Rapid, followed by Cajas Rapid.
Hot Springs Rapid
Hot Springs Rapid
Hot Springs Rapid, view back upstream to the beach we camped on, with Karl in his packraft, Barba and Britt
Hot springs downstream of the rapid
And another hot springs further on
Portal, in steeply-inclined limestone strata
Karl, at yet another hot springs
Nate and Barba at the lower part of the hot springs
A steep prow on Cerro Jatun Jirca
Tilted limestone layers
Tilted limestone layers
The Rio Cajas enters from river right
Cajas Rapid (Class III-IV)
The multiple prows of Cerro Jatun Jirca, seen from further downstream, over 5,000′ above the river
Sculpted igneous rock
Barba side-surfs
We approach a former bridge site in a gorge of igneous rock
Pedro takes video with his GoPro at the former bridge site
An orchard on river left, with vibrant green mango trees, and papayas to the left
View downstream
Nate, drinking from a spring
I was given this water bottle by my contact person at the Philmont Boy Scout camp (Philmont Training Center). The parents of Boy Scout attendees take weekly trips with us.
We stopped at a small farm on river right, which was unattended at the time. Equipped with only a small lean-to, the farm was probably an outlier of a larger farm located in the area. What a fantastic spot!
A nicely laid-out mini-farm watered by a small creek. No one was there when we visited. Banana and papaya trees.
Ditch, with coca to the left
The waterfall at the top end of the farm
The waterfall, with ditches going off to either side and a banana tree
Lean-to and a papaya tree. This little farm is probably only occasionally visited by the owner.
Coca
Coca fruits
Next up was Mayas Rapid (Class IV). We saw a photo of the group scouting the rapid at the end of the prior post.
Barba goes left and gets swallowed up
Pedro goes down the middle
Pedro. Britt shoots from a boulder on river right.
Kathy and I enter on the left
Our raft is seen here a little downstream from the above photo (Britt Runyon photo)
Hey, how did we get over here? (Britt Runyon photo)
We spun off and got slung towards the river right shore. Kathy laughs. (Britt Runyon photo)
We finish going backwards – which is always better than going sideways! (Britt Runyon photo)
Waterfall located at the top of Ihuano Rapid (Class III-IV), river left. I’m standing in a basin that’s been sculpted-out at the foot of the falls. Kathy looks on. (Britt Runyon photo)
Ihuano Rapid – a good one!
Sculpted granite
A travertine spring
The river takes an 180° bend. At the lower end of the bend, we are looking up at Cerro Antibo, the summit of which is 8,070′ (!) overhead.
“Wasson’s Staging Camp”, Camp #8, is located just upstream from Class V-VI Wasson’s Landslide Rapid. Upstream view of the right side of the peak seen in the prior photo, Cerro Antibo, with cornfields seen on the lower angle slope.
Barba likes to build big fires, which we much enjoyed. After decades of dealing with the strict controls placed on when and how one can have fires in the Grand Canyon, the freedom we enjoyed to build fires such as the above was very welcome.
Campfire. I like big fires too!
The proximity of Camp #8 to Wasson’s Landslide made it possible to tackle it early the next day. The 800 meters of this rapid, parts of which would be lined, would require many hours – if everything went according to plan. If everything didn’t go according to plan, we might find ourselves bivouacking amongst the boulders tomorrow night.
Day 9. We left camp at 6:30 AM, and began our scout soon after. This is the Class IV entry to Wasson’s, with the sun about to illuminate the rapid.
How did we do in Wasson’s? See the following post to find out:
https://believesteve.org/2015/12/18/peru-the-rio-maranon-day-9-wassons-landslide-rapid/
