Come on, you know they're pretty cute.
In my attempts to do some hiking and scouting of new rivers I ended up getting shut down again. This time though, it wasn't a bad thing at all. On a bus ride to a river where I was going to start my hike, I met a farmer who was going to be driving up the same river. He offered me a ride to the trail that leads to the headwaters of the river. Once there, we got to talking, and I ended up going all the way out to his house and farm. He and his wife were convinced that it was too dangerous to hike up the mountain solo, but they also thought it would be a good idea to house and feed me for a few days. Not too bad, eh? They were very good to me.
After the goodbyes and thank-you's I headed towards another river to try out my hiking idea a little more. Once again though, shut down. Also probably a good thing as the locals up the river valley are in a dispute with a Norwegian hydroelectric company, so there is much unrest, especially when a gringo with light hair, skin, and eyes rolls through 'just trying to look at the river'. I was told multiple times that my life might be in danger if I continued upstream, so no news on that river either.
Locals at both rivers did say that there were no waterfalls or especially strong or deep parts of either river.
I did stumble across this little guy somewhere in there though. You might recognize it from some past high profile videos, but it has changed quite dramatically, so maybe not.
Also, while walking along a road to the second river, I ran into some road construction. Turned out that I was on the new, not yet in service road and that they were still in the process of blasting through a cliff high above the lake. High above, as in about 400 or more feet nearly vertical to the water. The workers said that it takes about two hours to drive back to the other road and get to where I wanted to go, which we could see about one kilometer away down by the lake.
So with a bamboo stick for assistance, I did one of the most exposed, scariest traverses I have ever done across to a small trail that led quickly to the town.
I also got to view(probably a little too close) the use of dynamite to blast the wall.
So, that was my little non-paddling adventure. Very fun and educational, but I am ready to get back in my boat.
Hence, another new plan: head back to Pucon, pick up my boat, and get some.
