After visiting the Iguaçu waterfalls in Brasil, i was surfing the net about big waterfalls. Obviously, there is Pedro Oliva’s new world record, set just a month ago, here in Brasil…

But who really started this all? Do you know Annie Taylor?

Annie Taylor’s story on Wikipedia…

My kind of ‘open end’ trip in Southamerica has brought me to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and now Brasil. To Brasil we came without any expectations or beforehand knowledge.
We just wanted to do some boardsurfing and make new plans, maybe cross north to Venecuela, and off course, see if we find some paddling.

So on the way to Florianopolis we turned off at the first interesting roadsign:
‘Rio Paranhana, Parque Aguas Vivas’
and before we knew it, we where hooked up with the super friendly locals at Brasil Raft.

Rio Paranhana gallery

The Rio Paranhana is a mellow little jugle creek, has a lot of Rafting, a Slalom Course, and was a nice introduction to jungle paddling, plus we got some info and contacts, on where to go next.

After a couple of days we left to spend some time boardsurfing near Florianopolis.
And now, after a few rivers more, we are in Iguaçu, waiting for a permit to paddle below the Iguaçu Falls!

So i got some time to soon report more.

It has only taken Tom 2 months since our return to buy a working laptop, load 5 hrs of footage on to and edit it into 8 minutes of fun!

All of you state side, keep your eyes open for an appearance from your own Andy McMurray!  You have to love those over keen yanks!

NZ paddling 2009 Chris and Tom from Tom Strongman on Vimeo.

Not long now and the boys from Wales are off. The river is still secret but below are a few words explaining our plans.

‘Big adventures await a mixed North Wales/Peruvian team. Late in May, three instructors from Plas y Brenin, the National Mountain centre based in Capel Curig, North Wales are heading out to join Paul Cripps of www.Amazonas Explorer.com and two Peruvian kayak guides (Leo and Alan).

Initially they plan to do a warm-up run on the Rio Cotahuasi, itself one of the contenders for the ‘deepest gorge in the world’ given class 5 the river is bound the keep the boys amused.

They then disappear into the Jungle to attempt the first descent of a river in the location of Machu Picchu. Unfortunately were afraid we can’t reveal the name yet, but its about a 5 day trek in to the jungle.

Pete Caterall, Adam Harmer and Jon ‘Spike’ Green, all from Plas y Brenin are expecting a journey of about 6 days on the river. They know where they’ll start and they know where they’ll finish, but apart from that they know absolutely nothing about the difficulty of the river – and that is the adventure of it!

Photos taken from the put in show a fair sized river heading off in an ‘exciting’ fashion, down a steep, inaccessible jungle lined gorge. They know the overall gradient, but not where the gradient is! If it spread out along the whole river all will be ok. But, if it is all concentrated into a short section, all will be less than ok!

They will be taking all of their supplies for the trip in their kayaks, along with two amazing Predator video cameras to record their discoveries.

The team have already appeared on ITV local, talking of their plans http://www.itvlocal.com/wales/news/?player=WAL_News_15&void=281628 And will be back on the news after the trip to share their adventures. A series of articles and lectures are planned to follow.’

Visit the Blog site to see what’s going on

www.belowandbeyondmachupicchu09.wordpress.com

See you on the water soon

Adam

Recently I joined a group of young researches attempting to follow the elusive Alabama Gray Fox into the depths of the Jones Creek gorge. Jones creek flows west off of Sand Mountain in northern Alabama and cuts a deep and rugged canyon.  Below are a few pictures from our journey.  Photos by Charlie Mix.

To read the full story of Chasing the Gray Fox and see the video, check out http://granolapaddler.blogspot.com/2009/03/chasing-gray-fox.html

Until Next Time…

Adam Goshorn

For the last couple months I’ve been paddling the new Pyranha Karnali.  Lots of people have been asking me about it, but I wanted to get alot of time in the boat before venturing to voice my opinion.  Having spent 16 days paddling it in a bunch of different conditions I decided to write a review and share some pictures…

My full review and many more photos can be seen here.

Until Next Time…

-adam

I was able to take out the Karnali for 5 days in a row and really get to know it. To give a little backround, I am 5′ 10″ and weigh 160 lbs, the medium size feels ideal for a paddler of my size. I have been primarily paddling the medium Burn.
This boat has rounder edges compared to other Pyranha river running boats, it is more forgiving on tough eddy lines and allows you to put it on edge further while feeling balanced. When you get this boat up to speed it stays in line very well. It also is quite nimble when going for technical moves at lower speeds, it turns well from a pivot point right under the seat. It feels like it has a longer waterline than the burn making for a sleeker feel. It is a few inches longer so the rocker isn’t sacrificed. I think this will be a great race boat for myself. It planes out of drops really nicely and boofs with ease. The rounder hull also allows for forgiveness on the flatter landings off drops.
Overall if you are into a rounder hull with a bit more speed this is the boat for you. I think it will be great for all paddlers from beginners to experts.

All photos copyright Erik Boomer.

For 25 days our world existed within the shelter of the Grand Canyon’s walls, thousands of feet below the rim. Nearly a mile above us, the rest of the world continued to move at its blistering fast, distracted pace.  At river level, for 25 glorious days, 15 people were lucky enough to slow down, focus on the present, and live the good life. Some days we floated, some days we hiked, some days we celebrated, others we recovered. Regardless of what we did, each day was absolute paradise.