Keen on Florine

From the Llancahue we drove to Lago Ranco and up a dirt road for a while until we arrived at the small farm/hot springs which is home of the Rio Florine. This is another one of those rivers that Ben Stooksberry opened up years ago, now it is a simi-known big waterfall heaven. So we cooked a little pasta dish and spent the night drinking wine and enjoying the hot water.

The boys enjoying some fine boxed wine and Las Termas de Florine.

They are ghetto but still get the job done and ready you for a stout day out there.

So we awoke to a bright sunny day and a small breakfast of bread and cheese... kinda grim on the food. We took off for the put in and gathered our kajones to go and stout. The river is low volume at the start but drops quickly in to some steeps drops leading right into the hardest/coolest drop of the river.

The first rapid, getting warmed up for the goods below.

So the drop... I want to call it "Tirrimoto" like an earthquake! This thing is big a rowdy. You drop maybe 10-15 through a boat wide crack... sub out... resurface and fly off a 20-25 footer. It's fast and hard to hit the correct line. So with out time to spare Ian was in his kayak ready to drop on in there.

Ian firing the double crack first, kind of the style of the day. Ian went we followed.

The entry slot of the first big falls. It was tight and scary.

Coming through the curtain ready to drop again.

Jared just givin' her some hell. What a dope rapid!

The three of us fired that thing up with some good lines and were ready for more with the adrenaline pumping. The next drop is a perfect 20 foot slide... Cali style drop in a jungle gorge.

Fred and me running through the slide drop.

Literally right after that there is a huge horizon line waiting for you. It is a mandatory run or jump 50-55 footer. So clean, big, and beautiful. These are the drops I come to Chile for. We all ran this big guy with good lines. Jared broke his paddle in half and Fred boofed it big... but with a solid tuck and a young back he was fine and fired up on his biggest drop ever.

Fred tucking it up on the biggest drop of his life. Sicktor bro!

Jared lining up the big mandatory drop of the run. You can run it or jump it.

Paddle way up there... Holding on "LJ Groth" style. Soft hits when you don't have a six foot long pole in your hands.

From there we ran a bit of some cool class III down to the mouth of an intense box canyon. The rivers got so high this past winter that things changed big time so the portage we even more difficult to get around. We were using some very good team work and going slow, but one thing happen and kind of sparked a bad situation. Ian's boat ended up running the drop solo and Fred almost flushed down into a very bad place... So we had a scary moment there. Ian was then without a boat, but we could see it just below a 30 footer and a slide. It was stuck in a pool. So with the option of leaving it there, or going to get himself. Ian jumped about 40 feet into a small pool then did a first descent on his ass. It was a smallish slide but still very crazy... he wins the "Bad ass move of the year" award from Egcreekin!

With that behind us we got back in the river and continued downward. The gorge was super committing and kind of mank for sure. We were faced with two last drops to exit the gorge... they kinda sucked but we had to run them.

Ian deep in the box canyon on a shitty little drop that got Fred good.

Fred ended up swimming in a bad place in that rapid... it was super full of rocks and really not a place where you wanted to be. With some quick feet Ian had him on a rope and safely out of that spot. With that done and gone as well we reached the takeout and were so stoked on the day of hucking. The two errors in there were talked over and lessons were learned... that's what running the shit is all about.

The lake district delivers the goods.. This river moved to my top 5 favorite rivers of Chile! Can't wait to go back in there and get some de nuevo!

Later E.G.