Mexico 2010: The Rio Jalacingo

To us kayakers, the Rio Alseseca is without a doubt the most popular class V river in Veracruz. However, for those of us who don't mind working a little more for the goods I think think that the Rio Jalacingo can dish out just as good of a time as the classic Alseseca. During our trip to Mexico we spent three very productive days on the Jalacingo. In our first day we drove about half an hour from Tlapacoyan to the end of the Jalacingo road. From here, we shouldered our boats and hiked another 20 minutes to the infamous Bukaki Slide. The Bukaki Slide, first paddled a couple years ago by Rafa, Iker, and some Canadian stoutmasters, is a dynamic slide that quickly pinballs you back and forth off a few tight walls before making a 90 degree turn to the left and freefalling 20 feet into a calm pool below. Evan, Rush, and Rafa all went first and had similar clean lines flying straight into and off the 20 footer. I took a little different approach trying to catch an eddy on river right after the slide, but before the 20 footer. However, the river had a different plan for me and I ended up spinning around and approaching the waterfall backwards. At the last minute as I began to fall off the drop I was able to kick my boat around in a backwards freewheel to land upright and forward in the pool below.

Rafa entering Bukaki

Myself at the crux of the drop, about to throw a back freewheel

Looking up at Bukaki from the pool below

Before ending the day we had one more thing to take care of. We paddled a short ways down from Bukaki and ran a few laps on a clean 20 footer. Afterwards Rush, or perhaps it was Rudy, decided it would be a good idea to have our filmer, Matt Baker, fire up the drop as well. Rush briefly described to Matt, who had been a kayak once or twice before, how to tuck forward and pull his skirt before throwing him into the current and over his first drop. Matt had a sick line and almost stuck his landing, but ended swimming in the calm pool below.

Matt Baker learning quick 

During our second day on the Rio Jalacingo we put in slightly below where we had taken out the previous day with intentions of paddling all the way to the Alseseca confluence. However, we ended up spending the majority of the day scouting and preparing for a 60 footer right at the put-in. This drop's dynamic S curving lead in, and questionable depth below were enough to keep me from running it, but Rafa, who had run it once before, and Evan decided to fire it up. I waited patiently in the pool below, and watched Rafa give 'er first with a big ol' boof. After landing pretty flat I was worried that Rafa may have injured his back or ribs, but like always he paddled away without a scratch. Evan followed with a similar stroke off the lip, but was able to kick down his bow to nearly vertical before landing in the pool. Afterwards, we spend what little daylight we had left scouting a stout 40 footer less than 500ft. downstream. We left our boats at the lip of the waterfall, and planned on returning the next day to continue our journey downstream. 

Rafa, the pioneer of this drop, claiming its second descent as well

Evan flying off the lip

The following day we returned as planned and got straight to business. We gave the 40 one last scout then all fired ‘er up. Rush, who went first, claimed hands down the best line of the day with a perfect 45 angle of entry right off the middle of the drop. Evan and Rafa both ended up getting pushed left against some gnarly rocks, but paddled away without too much trouble.

Next it was my turn. As I paddled towards the drop I scrapped over a rock and lost the majority of my speed and control. I did everything I could to regain my direction and to reach for one last power stroke off the lip, but as I set my blade in the current I didn’t seem to grab any water and wasn’t able to get my bow up as much as I had anticipated. When I connected with the pool below I felt my paddle go straight to my face and became disoriented. The next thing I knew I was in the river left cave behind the waterfall, struggling to find any room to roll. About ready to give up I let go of my paddle and reached for the grab loop on my skirt. At the very last moment I felt a shelf to my left and hand rolled back up in the turbulent waters. As I opened my eyes to find my paddle, I noticed a disturbing flow of blood running from my nose. “Well let’s get of here first, then we can deal with that,” I told myself. After I turned myself around, I squeezed my way between the waterfall and shelf on the right to emerge back into the calm pool. Once the adrenaline wore off I began to feel a throbbing pain through my nose, but as my friends assured me that it “still looked pretty straight” I proceeded downstream with the crew.

Final scout of the 40 footer

Rush over the horizon line

Midway down, struggling to get my bow up

Finally finished with the gnar 40 footer we  paddled some fun slides and numerous clean boofs for a couple of miles. Afterwards, rather abruptly, we arrived at the entrance the only un-run (runnable) waterfall in the canyon. This particular 30 footer had a very unique and difficult lead in, but that wasn't our main concern. In the pool below there were three main hazards. The first was on river right where the falls landed within a few feet of the right side canyon wall and created a nasty pocket. The second was a huge cave on river left where the majority of the water seemed to be flowing. The third and final hazard of the waterfall was the 10ft. ledge immediately downstream with another nasty pocket on river right.Despite all the negative factors that played a roll in this drop, we all knew that there was a line. Rafa was especially confident, and again was the first to give 'er. He came flying off the 30 footer with lots of speed and a big boof to clear the  pocket on river right. He then waited near the cave on river left above the 10 foot ledge for whoever would be next. After seeing Rafa stomp his line about as well as anyone could possibly stomp it, I was inspired to follow him up. Off the lip I didn't have as much speed as I was hoping, so in a last minute effort to avoid the pocket on river right I turned myself towards the left, landed in the pool below and joined Rafa in the cave. Next up was Evan. From the bottom I watched as Evan came off the lip with probably a similar speed to myself. He was able to pull off a good boof stroke, but upon landing in the pool the vail flipped him back into the river right pocket. Evan tried and tried to fight his way out of the pocket, but eventually had to pop his skirt and swim for it. Somehow, once he was swimming, he was able to hand of god some slippery rock on river right to avoid swimming the nasty 10 foot ledge. While Rafa chased Evans boat downstream, Rush threw a rope to Evan and pulled him across the current as to avoid swimming the ten footer. Before too long everything was back to normal. However, after paddling about 500 ft downstream Evan's boat was full of water and we discovered an inch wide crack in the back of his boat.Rafa claiming yet another first descent on the Rio JalacingoEvan decided to hike out through a banana field on the left in hopes of finding a ride down to the takeout downstream. We didn't know exactly where he would end up, but we figured that the Banana fields must lead to some sort of civilization. After bidding him fairwell, Rafa, Rush, and myself proceed downstream. Aside from a sieved out 100 footer that required an exciting portage through a steep canyon, there wasn't too much much more good whitewater to be had and before too long the river turned to a manky class II-III boulder garden. After a few miles of boogying our way downstream we arrived at the confluence of the Alseseca and just a few minutes later arrived at our take-out about Tomata Falls. At the truck we were relieved to find Evan safe and sound. After a descent hike he had managed to find a ride down to where our shuttle vehicle awaited.This day turned into quite an adventure, but was definately one of my favorite days of the trip. I'm glad to say that we have now explored (almost) every section of the Rio Jalacingo river, and wow it's one hell of place. Now all I can do is look for more beautiful gorges around the world, and look forward to coming back to this one.