Spent the night in Panguipulli


	The next morning we were up early to drive around the lake to Choshuenco, where we would be staying while we boated on the Fuy. Before we left Ken took me over to look at the national tree of Chile - of course I forgot to write down the name of the tree, but it looked very much like something from a Dr. Seuss book. In fact it is apparently a "living fossil", and is different in function than other trees today. Heck if I know anything about it though. The drive was not too bad - an hour on bumpy dirt roads that crossed both the Rio San Pedro and the Rio Fuy before we pulled into the inn. We dropped our stuff into our rooms, took a few minutes to finish outfitting boats and went up to the river.	The national tree of Chile. I wish I remembered the name.
	According to our trip itenerary the first day was supposed to be on the Rio Neltume, but after talking with the group, Ken and Juliet decided to go ahead to the lower Fuy and spend two days there. The lower Fuy is a pretty fun river, and while all rivers are different, I would say the the lower Fuy is similar in nature to the Tellico, though it is a bigger river. The big red Corsica I had was a pig compared to the Pirouette I was used to paddling, and I felt really sloppy paddling it. It wasn't all the boats fault though - while I had paddled a lot during the summer before I left, as it grew colder and rainier in Santa Cruz it wasn't as much fun to go out on the ocean and I slacked off and got out of boat shape. The only problem being on the guided trip was that everyone followed the guides down the river, and as we came to each playspot we made our own little crowd banging around in the eddies. Still, there were plenty of playspots - good front and side surfing, as well as good enders. I managed to bang out a big ender in the Corsica, which was cool - my Pirouette doesn't have enough volume to get me out of the water. At one point I followed Ken into an ender spot, flipped and got completely bludgeoned by a lurking rock, proving my point that it is really worthwhile to own and use a good helmet suitable for the sport. As we came down towards the bottom of the river, we passed a bridge where the van was waiting, but decided to paddle down into Lake Panguipulli and back to the inn.	Gregor surfing on the Lower Fuy. Peter side surfing in a nice play hole/ender spot. Most of my river pictures from the Lower Fuy were very washed out as it was overcast but warm. Me coming down a rapid on the Lower Fuy. A good way to get your picture taken on the river is to paddle into other people's wildlife shots. Nothing (sucks) like a nice flatwater paddle at the end of the day.
	When we got back we showered and went out to look around town. There was another hotel near by that had a nice patio with a great view of the lake and good pisco sours - a drink that rivals margaritas for sheer deliciousness and alcohol effect. When we went over there, I was elected to do the ordering, since I speak a bit of Spanish. After about ten minutes of stumbling around in Spanish asking for drinks and such, the young woman who was working in the bar replied to someone's question in perfect English. It turned out that she had been a transfer student to the U.S. outside of Chicago. It was pretty funny that she let me go on in my bad Spanish for so long. Later that night some of us stayed up after dinner to watch some videos from trips past and talking with Ken and Juliet. The rivers looked fun - the big drops on the Fuy seemed fine and the Futaleufu looked huge. It was fun talking with Ken, too. He has been doing the boating guide/god thing for a long time and seems to have a different view of the world then just about anyone else. From what he said that night there are only four class V rapids in the world - Zeta, the Throne Room, Gorilla and Marginal Monster. I think I have seen more than that, but like I said, he has a different view of the world.	Our nice hotel in Choshuenco. Hanging out in the hotel room.
	The next day we paddled the same stretch of the lower Fuy, though no one wanted to do the lake paddle again, so we all took out at the bridge and got a nice ride back into town. I took the first swim of the trip and my only swim after getting a big breathful of water while coming out of a hole from side surfing. That was actually the first time that I have ever had that happen to me, and it was really unpleasant. I made my roll up and thought I was fine, but flipped again next to a rock and just knew it was time to get out of the boat. Somehow, the group had adopted a rule that whoever swam bought drinks, so we went back and I bought a round of pisco sours. That night I thought it was a pretty crummy rule, but by the end of the trip I had received more than I had given, so I guess it was all right. We also watched a video that Dan had made and brought with him - it was the best paddling video I had ever seen, not because of the radical hair boating, but because of the outstanding photographic quality and editing of interviews that showed the great cross section of the paddling community.	Beer is good after a day on the river. Pisco Sours are better. Pam, who let me stumble on in Spanish when she spoke perfect English. The view from the bar.
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