Well the illness was still lingering…the cramp/pains were now the main problem & kept me up most of the night. So I wasnt up-and-at-em too quick for our 9:30am departure. But we were all loaded up & ready for a day beginning with a drive over to Lago Steffen where we would ride down some trails to the lake & then hit the Rio Manso for a full river run.
We had the little truck loaded down with all the gear: 5 bikes, 2 kayaks, 1 ducky & 1 raft. Then all of us jumped in a big passenger van. Marc drove the truck & we were joined today by Kelly & his girlfriend Cailen, who have been our everyday hosts at the lodge. Was about 90 minute drive & we actually got to get out on asphalt road for a while. Again the views were incredible & we arrived at our drop spot. We unloaded the bikes & road the couple miles down to the lake which is actually in a set of lakes tucked in the middle of a couple ranges of mountains. We got down & Marc, Kelly & Cailen had lunch going on a little beach on the lake with an amazing view.
view above Lago Steffen
Lago Steffen
I finally got in some decent amount of food & we prepped to hit the water…including Hoolie giving us his 4 Rules. Esteban & I would start in the ducky, me in back as navigator, him in front to do all the paddling 
Hoolie, Robert & Johanna were in the raft & Kelly & Cailen were in kayaks. We geared all up to keep warm & dry with wetsuits & splash jackets fearing freezing water temps. But as we started the easy paddle out of the lake and into the 1st parts of the river it was actually quite warm & layers were shed. Its an easy river with some class 2+ rapids, a bunch of sections of class 1 (easiest) & just open easy moving water. But it was a nice change of pace, the air was warm (probably around 80), the water felt great & the views were spectacular.
ready for the river
We paddled around, splashed around and Robert & Johanna jumped off a nice little bank as we meandered our way towards Chile. Kelly & Hoolie got some vids so hopefully I’ll have some good ones of us going thru some of the better rapids. Then about halfway in Esteban & I switched places with Robert & Johanna…giving Hoolie his chance to have some fun with us. He took us sideways thru some waves so I would get soaked & rammed us up a couple rocks…all while singing random songs in his funny Argentinean accent (gotta hear it but we give him a hard time for his “v” & “b” pronunciation). The last big rapid came & we paddled hard at it as it made a sharp left at a big flat, sloping rock facing us…we were thinking we were going to turn at the last second & avoid it, but Hoolie’s late instruction hinted otherwise…”when I say ‘go’ sit down inside & hold the side of the raft”. We rammed into the rock with the front of the boat climbing pretty high up and & buckled & the stop in momentum wasnt too bad for Esteban & I cuz we were down in the front compartment…but Hoolie came flying forward from the back of the raft & slammed into me. We bounced away & continued down, all getting a laugh, even everyone else as they had turned to watch us.
We arrived at our pickup point, unloaded & made the drive back to the lodge…smartass Hoolie yelled back from the front, “Rule #5: no falling asleep”…which of course we all did, including him. We had to drop the big van just up the last section of road before the lodge at a little spot that has the bar sitting in the pasture. Some kids were playing soccer so of course Esteban & I jumped out and joined them for a while.
Back to the lodge, some yoga, dinner & some Heineken while we watched some of the vids shot by Johanna & Hoolie. His wife, Katie had joined us at the lodge for the last couple days as well so we got to know her.
