upper colca and colca canyon

PART 2 OF PERU
upper Colca and Colca canyon 
WITH SNOW PEAKS ALL AROUND WE STARTED OUR 2HR HIKE TO THE RIVER.


THE UPPER COLCA DROPS AN AVERAGE OF 120 FT PER MILE. AND HAS ONLY BEEN RAN A HAND FULL OF TIMES.
ONE OF THE MANY RAPIDS WE CHOOSE NOT TO RUN
ME ENJOYING THE BEAUTIFUL CANYON
SOME ROPE WORK DONE BY JEFE,ON OUR FIRST 4 HR PORTAGE.
RIGHT BEHIND JASON DOWN THERE WAS OUR CAMP FOR THE NIGHT. A LITTLE RUFF BUT WE HAD PLENTY OF FIRE WOOD FOR SUPPER.

GETTING SOME PADDLING IN BETWEEN OUR PORTAGES.
SECOND 4HR PORTAGE,ROPE GEAR UP TO CARRY ALONG NARROW TRAIL NEXT TO CLIFF. SLOW AND STEADY.
LAST LOOK OF UPPER COLCA
WE FINALLY MADE TO THE COLCA CANYON.HERE THE RIVER OPENED UP A BIT,AND GOT EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL.
we paddled 2 days in the colca canyon,it consisted of continuos class 3-4 rapids for miles.funnest rapid was a mile long class 4+ gauley type rapid.there were 2 portages we made in canyon,reparaz rapid we had to portage going underneath rocks in the water.
the other portage, we had to run the last 20% of rapid, do to being cliffed in.the colca canyon was the most beutiful place i have ever been to.
http://www.peruwhitewater.com/colca.htm

rio cotihuasi

back in June of 2007 me.Jason miller,Craig Wassinger,and Jeff Knectel went on an epic adventure. we traveled 4000 miles to the deepest gorge in the world. we drove 8h to new york, flew 7h to Lima Peru,bus 14h to Arequipa,bus 10h to Cotahuasi,bus 2h to Sipea,then hike 7h to put in.
half way on the hike we stop to look at the 500ft falls
long beautiful hike in.we finally reached the shore,refilled our drinking water,and paddled afew miles to a beach to camp at.
next few days consist of waking up to oatmeal breakfast around the camp fire,paddling class 4 rapids all day long under clear blue Sky ,find camping spot before dark,eat pasta for diner, sleep great on soft beach in dry air under the stars, with mountains all around.
topical whitewater,the river trip was 90 miles long that dropped about 65ft per mile
day5 we reached the confluence of the Marian.there the flow almost doubled and the river open up.day6 we reached a town for ride back to Arequipa.

here is a link to a great write up of the river [click on rivers then cotihuasi]
http://www.oregonkayaking.net/exploratoryframe.html
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=cotahuasi&um=1&ie=UTF-8

the begining

back when i was 18,i had my first taste of whitewater.went rafting down the new river gorge and loved it. sense then i went rafting more and more realizing that kayaking looked even more fun. at age 22 i bought my first kayak.after a few times in flat water,went to the loweryough.as years went i paddled more and more.enjoying nature,friends,and the felling of clarity that the rivers gave to me.