A quick introduction

How we got to where we are is a long story several months in the making, so this is to try to abbreviate the foundation and namesake of this adventure, bringing you up to speed.

I started kayaking throughout southern Peru in early October, and after finishing a great circuit of multiday expeditions up north, traveled down to Pucon, Chile to fall off some waterfalls. In Chile, one of the first faces I saw was Allen, whom I´d met just once before in the northwest on Canyon Creek. Allen was working with Nick, Mark, and a few British paddlers at Kayak Chile as instructors and safety kayakers. By the first week in January, their work was done and the travelling began.

Allen on the Llancahue`s beautiful 23-footer

We started with a road trip south to run a few classic rivers near Pucon. For five days, we drove around in a rental truck, camping out and running a different river each day. Then every night we would find a great camping spot and cook up a delicious meal on the legendary disco. The disco is a popular Chilean cooking instrument, basically a big, shallow wok 20 inches across on legs. We would get some coals going, set the disco over the flames, and make enormous stir-fry meals each night with fresh meat and veggies from town.

From Río Gol Gol: V

Allen running a splashy little drop on the Gol-Gol

The truck we rented turned out to be one of the nicest vehicles I´ve ever driven. We had a fairly new Nissan crew cab pickup, which offerred us comfy seating for 5, enough storage space in the bed, a roof rack for boats, and plenty of clearance and power for the rough gravel roads. The biggest downside was the damn alarm system. None of us had the faintest idea how to properly use it, much to the annoyance of ourselves and anyone within earshot. Driving out of the rental lot, the alarm went off. Turning the ignition to play some music, the alarm went off. When we all pushed the car to jumpstart a dead battery and when Joe let the E-brake off while parked and the truck ran over my foot...the alarm would go off. When the truck wasn´t shrieking its siren, it was beeping at us and locking all the doors on its own accord. In honor of a certain droid that also wouldn´t shut up, we named the truck R2.

Getting that battery going again!

R2 loaded up for a morning lap on the Fuy, with Brian`s shiny new raft ready for its maided voyage.

So there you have it, our group`s namesake. The annoying truck that ran my foot over and drew us a $100 damages charge from a dent in the roof left by the rack. And the heavy traditional grilling instrument that has prepared us many a gourmet fireside dinner (or breakfast!) The truck has been left behind while the disco lives strapped on the outside of my Kelty external frame pack, just to complete the old-school look. As a bonus, it should serve well as a shield if we get caught in any guerilla crossfire up in Colombia.

And now the adventure begins. We made it as far south as the Futaleufu River in Patagonia. After two euphoric weeks of camping by the river, laying in the hammock by the beach, and the daily run through some of the best whitewater in the world, we headded north. We each sold most of our gear and sent the rest home in a box. Now we`re traveling ¨light¨with just our backpacks. I`ve already missed my flight home; Allen and Nick plan to do the same. We will be making our way back to the states overland, visiting the people and places of over a dozen countries in the process. Here we`ll post our stories.