FIVE REASONS TO TRAVEL TO PERU

Photo by Danielle Villasana

BY OUTSIDE ADVENTURE TO THE MAX GUEST BLOGGER LACEY ANDERSON

Photo Courtesy of Marañón Waterkeeper

Far from the crowds that flock to southern Peru, you can get your “Indiana Jones” on in the northern territories where ancient Incan and Pre-Incan archaeological wonders rival the famed citadel of Machu Picchu. The mountains surrounding Chachapoyas in northern Peru contain the lush vegetation of the Andean cloud forests offering uncrowded conditions and unlimited adventure for the intrepid traveler. Chachapoyas (‘Chacha’ to the locals) is a quiet, colonial town with an attractive main plaza, a number of interesting churches and balconied 19th-century buildings. There are modern accommodations ranging from first-class hotels to backpacker style hostels like the Chachapoyas Backpackers, a reasonably priced hostel offering private rooms with a full-bath or dorm rooms with shared a bathroom.

Chachapoyas makes a great base from which to explore the many attractions in northern Peru. Here are my favorite must-dos in the Chacha area

Five – Trek the Inca Road

Photos Courtesy of Lacey Anderson

The Inca road system was the most advanced and longest transportation system in pre-Hispanic South America, spanning almost 25,000 miles. It began in today’s Santiago, Chile and traversed north through the Andean mountains of Peru all the way to what is now the country of Colombia. Amazingly, remnants of this road are still present in the Chacha area. This section of the Inca Road has fantastic vistas, unexcavated ruins and narrow slot sections cut into the hills by the ancient builders. To trek, a section of the Inca Road, hail a taxi to the hamlet of Levanto and look for the faded orange sign that reads Camino Pre-Hispanico. It will be an all-day hike back to Chacha, but well worth the effort.

Pro tip: You may need to ask the locals for help spotting the sign and beginning the trek. Try this phrase, “Estoy buscando el camino Pre Hispanico. ¿Sabes donde está?” (basically saying I’m looking for the Inca road). Locals are normally delighted to help a gringo. On my visit, three small children walked me to the spot where the “road” begins. This hike is for experienced trekkers only as it’s challenging to find and follow the road in some areas. Part of the time I was lost and a bit disoriented, although much of the time I was in total wonderment at the still intact record of the ancient Incan people’s remarkable accomplishment. Alternatively, you can save yourself some frustration and hire a guide in Chacha. Be sure to take plenty of water, wear comfortable hiking shoes, and bring a picnic lunch.

 

Four – Village of Cuispes and the Yumbilla Waterfalls

 

The small village of Cuispes is not well known by the world and it would be easy to overlook this place were it not for several spectacular waterfalls in the surrounding cloud forest. Most notable, Yumbilla Falls drops 2,938 feet, making it the fifth tallest waterfall in the world. This is a new discovery; it was officially measured by National Geographic in 2007. One of the best parts of a visit here is there are very few tourists; you will have the tranquility of this hike to yourself! I highly recommend staying at the scenic La Posada de Cuispes for comfortable accommodations and great food. They can arrange a local guide to open the gate and hike with you to the waterfalls.

Pro Tip: Support the local communities! Often the Peruvian government doesn’t support private reserves, hence the natural wonders of Peru are disappearing quicker than they can be saved. It took the community of Cuispes ten years to set up and build the trails leading to the waterfalls and the gates protecting the private entrance. When I went my guide was a local grandmother who also tended her llamas on the walk from town to the gates of the reserve. She was about my age and still walked my behind off.

Three – Hike to Gocta

From Cuispes, take a tuk-tuk back to Pedro Ruiz and find a taxi headed toward Chachapoyas. Tell your driver you want to stop in Cocachimba. He will likely say, “ah, por Gocta.” Once in Cocachimba purchase a pass to hike to another fabled waterfall. Gocta Falls was unknown to the world until 2005. Farmers living in the remote village of Cocachimba knew that the cloud forest hid the huge waterfall, but local legend involving an adulterous man, a jealous wife and a mythical blonde prevented villagers from visiting or talking about the falls, believing that anyone foolhardy enough to hike to Gocta was chancing a run-in with mortality. This local legend was passed around for generations.

Pro Tip: It’s best to plan an entire day to get to the tiny village of Cocachimba and then to hike the trail to the foot of the falls. Don’t worry, there are several places to stay in town. I always stay at the family owned and operated hospedaje # 950091419, close to the plaza and right off the trail. They have rooms for as low as $6 or for a little more you can have a room with private bath and views of the falls. Another option is to treat yourself to a first rate hotel, with exceptional rooms, a restaurant, and an infinity pool with a spectacular view of Gocta Falls. If that sounds appealing, check out the Gocta Andes Lodge.

Two – Explore the Fortress at Kuelap

Spend another day exploring Kuelap, one of the largest stone ruins in the world. This world heritage site is 3,000 feet higher than Chacha in the humid, mountain cloud forest of the Amazonian Andes and overlooks the Utcubamba River valley. Protective rock walls reaching 66 feet high surround Kuelap. Some of the walls are decorated with tiled zigzag patterns which are hallmarks of Chachapoya architecture. If you look carefully you’ll see murals and stone carvings depicting felines, snakes and birds, all different gods to the Chachapoya. Inside the compound, there are over 400 round buildings, which in ancient times would have been covered with steep, conical thatched roofs. There are even bones still inside some of the tombs!

Getting to Kuelap is an adventure in itself. It’s about 45 minutes from Chacha to Tingo, which sits at the base of the mountains in the Utcubamba Valley. The route to Kuelap from Tingo is via a narrow road with a series of switchbacks up to Nuevo Tingo. The road then snakes its way along one mountain and crosses over to the next mountain, all the while climbing steadily upwards. It’s a spectacular drive! Once you reach the parking lot, there’s a well-maintained path with railings and the occasional bench to one end of the ruins. It’s a moderate half-mile walk (uphill) to the ruins.

Pro Tip: Go now! Kuelap, for the time being, is one of the least visited of Peru’s archaeological sites. This could all change. During my last visit, a cable car was under construction to connect Nuevo Tingo to Kuelap. I can only assume the project is complete and making Kuelap much more accessible. The cable car ride will provide a stunning vista of the area and bypass the 90-minute long drive to the ruin site. If being suspended in a cable car isn’t your thing, Jose at Chachapoyas Backpackers can take you to Kuelap in a comfortable van.

Number One (for 2018) – Attend a Floating Film Festival on the Rio Marañón

 

Photo Courtesy of Marañón Waterkeeper

This year there’s the opportunity for travelers to join a Floating Film Festival, which will be screening Confluir in riverside villages as they raft or kayak the Rio Marañón (aka Grand Canyon of the Amazon). This film follows the month-long rafting expedition of an international team of scientists and river experts as they investigated the natural, recreational and cultural resources that will be impacted by the proposed dams on the Marañón.

Local people have protected this river for years and gave their blessing to film in their communities and on their river to tell this story. Marañón Waterkeeper is giving back by premiering the film in the villages along the river so they can be some of the first people to watch it. They hope to show the Spanish version of Confluir in as many riverside villages as possible throughout 2018. Marañón Waterkeeper is seeking support from the international boating community to make these screenings possible.

There will be several commercial rafting trips departing May-November 2018 which are open for individuals or groups to join. Each of these trips will stop in a village on their journey down the river. Armed with a projector, generator, screen and sound equipment, Confluir will be brought to the village for everyone to see. Participants of the “floating film festival” will be able to enjoy a truly unique journey down the Rio Marañón.

Pro Tip: Organize your connecting flights within Peru to arrive and depart directly from the take-out and put-in cities. This way, a seven-day section of the river can easily be completed during a single week of vacation, or go for the 14 or 30-day options if you have more time available! For more information visit the Marañón Waterkeeper’s website or email: contact@maranonexperience.com. 

Lacey Anderson says she is a river gypsy at heart. An outdoor recreation guide, she as logged over 12,000 river miles within the US, Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru. She also is an author of two camp cookbooks and contributing writer to NRS’ Duct Tape Diaries. You can follow Anderson on her blog at www.nocoolers.com.

 

Outside Adventure to the Max is always looking for guest bloggers. Contact us at Nickayak@gmail.com, if you are interested.

 

 

THE PATHWAY TO WATER

Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free. ’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be. — Traditional Shaker

There’s no season for me, that gathers up more feelings of nostalgia than autumn. The sound of brown crisp leaves crunching underfoot, the taste of apples and pumpkins doused with sugar and cinnamon and the spectacular sight of migrating geese heading south before winter. It’s always a thanksgiving of memories and reflection for me.

I got that same sentimental feeling when I was watching naturalist and canoe guru Bill Mason‘s 1984 semi-autobiographical documentary, Waterwalker, this past week.

Photos courtesy of the Mason family

In the film, Mason guides us in his canoe along the rugged coast of Lake Superior and on some of Ontario’s exciting rushing rivers and through its peaceful meadowland lakes. All the way, he paints, camps, and tells us stories about his love of canoeing in the Canadian wilderness. En route we escape into his paddling world of beautiful scenery and wilderness pleasures, as he teaches us to reflect poignantly on nature and the history of land’s native people.

“There is no wolf attack, I don’t get ravaged by wild mountain men or robbed by bandits,” Mason tells us in Waterwalker, “In fact, there are no bad guys at all. Just you and me paddling the biggest and most spectacular lake in the world… Lake Superior.”

Long before the days of high definition, drones, and special effects, Mason’s films now have a nostalgic feel to them. Using 16-mm film, he blended the natural sound of birds chirping, waves crashing and rushing water to enrapture us into the scene. To bring us in closer, he developed a pre-GoPro perspective to get the shot, using a motorcycle helmet and wood from a hockey sticks to create a helmet cam. It was not lightweight by today’s standards and could only shoot a maximum of 90 seconds before the film ran out. There is a story, that Mason almost drowned the first time he jumped in the water with it on. From then on they say, he used several extra PFDs provide enough flotation for him and the camera to stay afloat.

“It is a testament to his creative genius that at a time of mass online media,” wrote Conor Mihell, in a tribute to Mason in Canoe & Kayak Magazine, “Mason’s canon of films remain relevant and entertaining on the 30th anniversary of his death, on October 29, 1988.”

In Waterwalker, Mason quipped us along about being an artist who loves to canoe or a canoeist who loves to create. His passion for both was poured out freely, all the while encouraging us as Mihell wrote of him, to explore the real world—a dynamic, wondrous and beautiful place of wild rivers and freshwater seas, to be traced slowly, joyously and thoughtfully by canoe.

“I love his simple joy of building a relationship to the world with a canoe, ” wrote James Raffan offering Mason more accolades in Paddling Magazine, “Bill didn’t really care whether you did this stroke of that stroke in this or that circumstance. Going into nature was the most important thing. How you got there in your canoe was incidental.”

I thought about Mason the last time I paddled on Lake Natoma. It was easy too, after a chance meeting with John Weed. A local paddling legend in Northern California, it’s obvious Weed and Mason were cut from the same cloth.

John Weed

Like Mason, Weed is somewhat of a mystical spirit. A long-time instructor and guide for Current Adventures Kayak School & Trips he has been known to go on solo trips to Mexican Baja coast for months at a time always bringing back stories wild tales of surviving sudden storms, dodging drug smugglers and meeting great friends along the way.

“When you paddle with others, you can immerse yourself in nature.” Weed  was quoted as saying, “When you paddle solo, you are nature.”

Always a great paddling companion, on my recent trip to the lake, Weed told me stories of growing up inside the walls of Folsom prison as we paddled up past the Rainbow Bridge near the prison. His dad was the prison’s chaplain in a time when many of the prison’s employees and their families would live on its grounds and the only way to get to the river then was to stage a prison break.

“It was maximum security then,” laughed Weed as we angled around the curve in the river where we could see the prison’s tower and stone walls, “Every day at 4:00 PM they would blow a whistle that would send everyone back for lockdown. But for me, that would single that it was time to jump the wall and come down here to go fishing.”

And ever since, Weed, just like did Mason has followed the well-worn path to the water. As Mason said, “A journey by canoe along ancient waterways, is a good way to rediscover our lost relationship with the natural world and the Creator who put it together so long ago.”

Pledge to help California State Parks on #GivingTuesday

This Tuesday, November 27, join people around the globe in support of the causes you love like supporting our state parks for #GivingTuesday. Last year, millions of gifts were made to nonprofits on #GivingTuesday and hundreds of generous park lovers like you chose to donate in honor of our state parks.

This year, we’re counting on you to help us meet our goal of raising $75,000 and making it our biggest #GivingTuesday yet! Get ready to celebrate this global day of giving to the California State Parks Foundation.

NOVEMBER SKIES

 

I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air. –Nathaniel Hawthorne 

“We seldom think of November in terms of beauty or any other especially satisfying tribute,” wrote American author and naturalist Hal Borland, “November is simply that interval between colorful and dark December.”

Paddling in November is an anomaly for many. The cool temperatures just seem to out-weigh the beautiful fall colors and golden light from the autumn sun. In my recent trips to both the Lower American River and my neighborhood lake, Lake Natoma, the waterways have been virtually abandoned by the summertime crowds, leaving an empty view of the glistening water. The refreshing clear and crisp autumnal air and sky and uncrowded shores make me wonder why November paddling doesn’t get its homage and due.

When I look back on my last paddling day. I did nothing special. There was no grand trip to a lake or river I had never paddled before. There wasn’t a thrilling ride through rapids or ocean waves. Sorry folks, but to celebrate my own personal record of the most paddling days ever in a calendar year, like always, as of late, it was a simple trip to the lake. One hundred and thirty-five days of paddling was spent floating in the twilight listening to the sounds of city and nature intermingle along the sloughs and islands in Lake Natoma.

It’s an accomplishment for me to get to 135 days of paddling in the calendar year. In the past, vying for 100 days took some serious effort. This year has been mostly confined to local waters. Lack of money but mostly time with a very active work schedule has kept me away from exotic trips to faraway rivers and lakes. But I’ll keep dreaming.

I’m content to enjoy my time on the water when some are locking their kayaks away for the season and with almost two months remaining in the year, I’ll keep chipping away at my own personal record.

Paddling Forward, The 2018 Mid-Term Election

While the results can’t be called an unqualified victory for environment and climate advocates gained crucial purchase to push for clean air and water. Voters passed or defeated 10 state ballot initiatives favoring the environment to curb greenhouse gas emissions (Washington), increase the use of renewable fuels and increase spending on land preservation (Georgia, California), protect wildlife habitats (Alaska), limit fracking (Colorado). Montana voters, however, shot down an initiative that would have helped regulate new rock mines.

Leaders from environmental groups said they’re thrilled with the election’s outcome and Democrats reclaiming the House of Representatives to rebuff President Trump’s most egregious environmental policies.

“In the last two years, we’ve seen the most anti-environment president in history and most anti-environment Congress in history—and the voters said, ‘Enough,’” Gene Karpinksi, the president of the League of Conservation Voters told Sierra the national magazine of the Sierra Club, “The green firewall in the Senate is still intact. We have new leadership and a pro-environment majority in the House, and that’s a big step forward. As we’ve said, if we’re going to make progress in the short term, it’s going to come from the states. And we have many, many new governors and statehouses that are committed to fighting for clean energy and action on climate.”

In water-related initiatives, Alaska voters turned down a measure that would have forced the state’s Department of Fish and Game to hand out permits for projects and activities that might harm fish. In Florida, voters came out against offshore drilling and will put an end to oil and gas mining on lands under state waters. While in California, voters have rejected an initiative would have allocated close to $8 billion in funds for surface and groundwater storage, watershed protection (habitat restoration) and water infrastructure.

This past election brought out a lot of ugly rhetoric about persons of color and both immigrants and refugees, women, and the LGBT community. But as American Rivers President William Robert (Bob) Irvin wrote after the 2016 election, “Rivers don’t care where you came from or where you’re going, what you believe and what you don’t believe, who you love or who your parents were. At American Rivers, we respect the dignity of every human being who works for us, who works with us, and who we see on the river.”

I Boated

And major kudos to Relise Design Company of Knoxville Tenn, for creating the I Boated, #GoBoatTN emblem during this year’s election as a way to show off Tennessee boating pride. We should all exercise our civic duty and get out there and BOAT!

Want to see more photos? Follow me on Instagram

@nickayak

The official feed of Outside Adventure to the Max. Follow us on river trips along the American River and the lakes of the Sierra with Current Adventures as we count my paddling days of the year.