A recent attempt to kayak my fickle local river (alas dropped too fast) with a couple friends had the consolation prize that it reminded me to pester Rocky (Chiapas Whitewater guidebook co-author) about my interest in wanting to do some boating in southern Mexico. He pointed out that he actually had an guided Usumacinta trip coming up soon and so I got looped into the trip logistics. I was initially hesitant that a guided raft trip probably wouldn't offer the pace and experience I was after, that I couldn't find anyone else to join me (Heather and my brother both unfortunately could not make it), and that it would necessitate my first air travel since the pandemic started. Eventually I decided to commit. Looking back the Usumacinta River did not make my short list of the Chiapas rivers I was interested in running based on my guidebook readthrough, probably because of the minimal amount of whitewater and the logistics involved in a longer trip. As Rocky pointed out there were access and safety issues associated with going down the Usumacinta, which was another argument in favor of going with his group. So in the end I was sold, as long as I got to go in my packraft!
The Usumacinta is a HUGE river, the biggest I have boated to date. Our low season float found it at about 55,000 cfs. Though most of the river is relatively flat with limited whitewater, some sections had some of the most chaotic and spontaneously forming and dissolving hydraulics I have ever seen. Apparently at higher flows the whirlpools on this river are particularly feisty. Our trip would be 6 days going 142km total. Along the way we would pass through dense jungle with abundant howler monkeys, pass two important Mayan archaeological sites, and pass beautiful travertine waterfalls. We'd have whitewater to class III+ and pass through the dramatic Grand Canyon of the Maya (Gran Cañón de San José).
Thankfully the travel to the meeting place in Palenque went smoothly. LAX to Mexico City to Villahermosa. No issues with security checks or customs. My bag arrived intact. The bus ride to Palenque worked well enough. There was a total of sixteen participants (and five guides) on the trip including Rocky. Nine were multi-generational members of one family including four kids under 11, another clan of five, and then there was me and one other random. I would soon find out the guides were all lots of fun and good at what they do. Getting going was predictably slow with all the cats to herd and equipment to collect, load, and transport. We had a lunch stop at a roadside eatery halfway along and also broke up the drive with a stop to Bonampak. At Frontera we stayed in some interesting cabanas with mosquito netting. After settling in I strolled down to the launch to take in my first view of the river and to help some with rigging. The river was huge! The first toe dip into the water was also a notable moment- the river temperature was absolutely perfect. This was the most encouraging thing getting me excited for the trip. We had a big long table meal together that night and made our introductions. In short order we got to know each other pretty well. Howler monkeys let out their guttural calls all evening.
Day 1. The mornings along the river are particularly cool and pleasant I would find. I took little time getting my packraft stuffed and inflated and then set about to try to help rig the other rafts. I intentionally packed for the trip very strategically so I only took what I needed and could easily fit my personal gear inside my packraft (this was after all a test piece to what I hoped were future self-supported trips for me). With so many people around sometimes the best course of action was just to step out of the way until I spotted something I could help with. By my count we had six rafts (one with Rocky's auto-right funhouse roll-cage), two catarafts, three whitewater kayaks, two inflatable kayaks, a standup paddleboard, and my packraft. Rigging was slow but we eventually pushed off at about 10:30am. I spotted four howler monkeys napping in a tree near the river and later someone saw a crocodile that I missed. We stopped for lunch at a particularly muddy beach. The river was flat but moving. Progress was best described as lazy but I enjoyed kayaking over to the different rafts and getting to know people in our group a bit better. The river was the perfect temperature to jump in periodically and cool off. I soon discovered that I would need to constantly be covered and constantly apply sunscreen on this trip. It was the first day and I already had burns to contend with. As we approached Yaxchilan the land use contrast between the left bank (Mexican nature reserve) and right bank (Guatemalan clear-cut logged fields) became particularly striking. We arrived at Yaxchilan at 3:30pm, much later than planned, which meant that we would not get to walk through the ruins until the next morning. We carried the mountain of gear up the steep slope to the edge of the grassy airstrip and set up our first camp of the trip. The epiphytes (air plants) were particularly cool at this campsite. Margaritas and guacamole were notable comforts. More howler monkey calls continued throughout the evening, close enough to prompt a few of us to try to look for them. The stars were numerous until the bright moonrise. I slept better than expected despite not being adjusted to the warm humid evenings. We paddled 20 km.
Local boats at the put-in, Guatemala on the far bank
Day 2. In hindsight an unsurprisingly dewy morning considering the open grass on the airstrip. The group was slow to awaken and eat breakfast, but eventually we strolled over to the Yaxchilan ruins. We had the site all to ourselves which was nice (even if covid restrictions prevented us from entering some of the buildings). Initially one of the river guides Alejandro led the interpretation, but after a while the need to explore became too strong and I and many others break off from the group. The site had some nice stela and wonderfully carved doorway lintels. A group of spider monkeys also provided entertainment. A long, steep, and narrow stairway led up into the jungle away from the main plaza. It was only until I was halfway up that I caught the first glance of the ornate acropolis. I had never seen anything quite like the mesh patterned roof before and the sitting figure at the center must have been imposing in its time. Interestingly they Mayans repurposed a large calcite column, presumably from a nearby cave, as a carved totem positioned with honor in front of the acropolis. I could have easily spent more time wandering around the site, but behind schedule, we were prodded back to camp to load the rafts. From this point on for the next few days we were joined by a "support" motorboat with a crew of four. Past encounters boaters have had with banditos along this stretch of river (gunpoint robberies) encouraged certain precautions to be taken. As I understand it we hired banditos with guns to protect us against banditos with guns: classic! Anyway they mostly stayed out of sight a couple kilometers in front or behind us and I was more concerned with crocodiles than people at any given time. We made some miles before pulling into a less muddy beach with a bit of shade between the trees. The beach was absolutely hopping with thousands and thousands of the tiniest little toads I have ever seen, giving the appearance of dancing pebbles wherever anyone stepped. After lunch I ended up rowing Miyaya's cataraft to give her ailing shoulders a break, which was a nice change. A couple of the kids happily took turns paddling my packraft. We were aiming for El Playón as camp (Km63) but camped well short at Playa Chicozapote (Km45). This camp did not offer any side hikes as El Playón would have but it was a really beautiful spot on the river with a fantastic tall sandy beach, a mysterious green lagoon surrounded by large crocodile tracks, and the first named rapid of the trip within view just below the camp. I enjoyed pulling my drone out and exploring some of the surroundings including scouting the rapid just downstream. It was a beautiful night with a tasty meal, pleasant campfire, and even some smores. It was a warm night on the exposed sand still radiating the heat of the day. We paddled 25km to Km45.
Yaxchilan acropolis
Lunch stop
Playa Chicozapote (and below)
Day 3. We knew today would be a big day if we were trying to rally to get to our Piedras Negras layover camp. Fortunately people were fairly motivated and we were able to push off at 8:30a, not bad given all the raft gear. Despite this there was still a little time to make a waterslide out of paco pads down the steep slope of the beach into the river. I ended up paddling ahead of the group to take photos on the rocks as the rest of the group went through the rapid. After a while we past an interesting travertine spring on the right bank of the river and then entered a stretch with many springs both on right and left. We tied up at Big Spring where a 100m wide sheet of water poured from several spring sources over travertine steps into the river. Everyone enjoyed the beauty of the place as well as getting a waterfall massage and jumping over the small falls into the river. The river continued down a narrow rock-lined channel as we fought a headwind. The river corridor abruptly exited a band of limestone and spilled us into a vast pool adjacent to the bright glare of the largest beach on the river, El Playón. We stopped here for lunch despite the aggressive winds and blazing sun. I noticed the beach seemed to accumulate all the river's flotsam including chunks of pumice from a mysterious source. The kids had loads of fun playing with their treasured floating rocks. After lunch we continued down this open and wide stretch of river, floating past corn fields, cattle, and then waved to locals near the remote village of Arroyo Jerusalen. We passed the funky black rock conglomerate island for which Piedras Negras is named after and continued on. We pulled over in a couple places to collect some driftwood for campfires. We past through the unmemorable Rapido Caribe and then stopped at the odd Cenote Tumbado, which pours cool clear blue (and oddly sulphurous) waters into the Usumacinta. I could not resist a shallow landing cliff jump and some shallow water bouldering. This was a really neat spot, different than any cenote I've been to before. From the cenote it was a short kilometer to camp, an idyllic beach with half overhanging trees at the entrance to the Piedras Negras ruins. The camp even came with a "pride rock" slab of limestone that had a Mayan carving welcoming visitors to Piedras Negras (its real Mayan name is unknown). Being our layover camp (two nights) I put extra effort into selecting my campspot, eventually terraforming a cliff-edged spot looking down over the camp and river. It provided a bit more shade than others and had a nice spot to hang a hammock as well. We had a roaring campfire, dutch oven lasagna/enchilada hybrid (amazing!), and enjoyed the occasional fireflys. We paddled 34km to camp at Km79.
paco pad waterslide
Rapido Chicozapote
Big Spring (and below)
The river about to widen as we approach El Playón
Cenote Tumbado (and below from above)
Piedras Negras camp
My perch
Day 4. Layover day. Most justifiably slept in a bit. I joined the group for a 3 hour tour through the seldom visited (50 people a year?) Mayan ruins of Piedras Negras. The site is uncleared and more-or-less unreconstructed such that it was a maze of jungle trails between the structures. At intervals we'd see large slabs of limestone, highly weathered remnants with barely discernable carvings remaining. The best preserved and most notable structure was a sweat lodge that we were able to enter that had all of its stucco intact. We also saw an excavated tomb, a ball court, and a few minor temples. A circuitous path through several hanging plazas and corridors spiraled us up to the high point of the acropolis where we had a commanding view of the river below. Overall it was hard to appreciate the vastness of the site beneath the dense jungle but it was a fun place to wander around nonetheless. After lunch I spent considerable time hiding from the sun in my hammock, napping and reading. Once the beach was in shade I swam in the shallows with a few others, then flew the drone around. I zoomed around camp and the cenote upstream, then attempted to find the dry cenote at the end of a 2 hour jungle trek (but did not). Several worked to build a sweatlodge on the beach out of oars and tarps. Another pleasant night.
Day 5. This would also be a big day with many miles to paddle, some of the biggest rapids, most dramatic gorges, and travertine fall diversions. The day started for many with Rocky imitating a jaguar call from the jungle near camp. It continued with a freak rainstorm out of nowhere as most scrambled to quickly tear down their tents and hide underneath a tarp; fortunately I already had my gear packed away I so I enjoyed the wonderful rain sounds from beneath dense tree cover. It was the only rain on the trip and I was thankful for it. It would have been a very different type of trip if we had constant rain that heavy. But also I was glad to experience just a small amount of rain in this remote jungle. I enjoyed watching the transformation; in twenty minutes it would be over. We had several minor rapids and riffles to start out the day. After a little over ten kilometers we rounded a turn in the river and were presented with the dramatic sight of Cascada Busiljá, a multi-tiered travertine falls of white water pouring through the jungle directly into the river. I certainly could not resist getting some drone shots that really showcased the scale of it as well as the beautiful green pools contrasting with the murky Usumacinta. Starting close in at the falls I recorded a dramatic slow clip pulling out away from the falls, was mesmerized by the view on my phone, lost track of my surroundings, and plowed the drone into the leafy canopy on the opposite side of the river. It definitely hit some leaves and branches but managed to recover and maintain its hover. Very fortunately by the time I realized what happened it seemed like the drone was just fine, and I could carefully fly it between branches back into the open of the river (a close call!). I then paddled to the falls, climbed up to the pool at the base of the upper falls (finding a neat freshwater snail shell on the way), took some photos from a scenic alcove, and then jumped the main cascade into the lower green pool (fun!). I think everyone could have happily spent all day at this beautiful spot but we still had a long way to go. After more flat paddling we found a nice beach tucked high up in the shade on the right side for a good lunch spot. Post-lunch we passed the Rio Chocolja and the many locals hanging out near the water's edge. If we had time this would have been a great place to stop and carry boats up the last few kilometers of this major tributary to run a bunch of short travertine falls. We continued on though, waving as we went. Just above La Lineá (III+) we said goodbye to our support boat and continued on through the boiling chaotic whitewater. This is also the spot where the right shore ceases being Guatemala and becomes the Mexican state of Tabasco. Just past La Lineá we stopped for some spring water on river right, just before the dramatic start of the Gran Cañón de San José, a vertical walled limestone gorge completely out of place with the mild and open river we had been paddling down for days. Though the rapids were not over difficult at this flow, the gorge was intimidating for its grand scale and for its carved bedrock which created chaotic boils, eddylines, and whirlpools that sometimes spanned half the river. I loved this section of river! As soon as I found a spot open enough to get a GPS signal I flew the drone around for a bit. The rest of the group continued on and I was soon left to myself in this wild, wild place as howler monkeys menacingly echoed their calls through this gorge. It was one of the standout moments of the trip for me. I paddled hard to catch up with the rest of the group, reading-and-running Devil's Whirlpool rapid, which ended up being perhaps the most impressive hydraulics on the trip. The two halves of the river were dominated by semi-stable whirlpools with air cones you could look into several feet; between them was a thin band of haphazard lateral waves to navigate. I had a clean run but was caught imagining what an unpleasant run would look like. Rocky had cautioned that he had seen whirlpools on this river swallows boats and boaters and make them disappear for upwards of fifteen seconds! After Devil's Whirlpool the gorge eased and we entered pastoral lands of cattle and corn. We pulled into a beach on river left at about Km120.5 near the village of San José Usumacinta, easily the least notable camp of the trip. The brief return to civilization (people boating up to our camp, loud generator and car noises, and abundant cow patties) killed some of our enthusiasm for our wild and scenic river. Nevertheless, we had a grand dinner to celebrate our big day and last night on the river. We had paddled 39km to camp at Km118.
Cascada Busiljá (and two below)
La Lineá
The dramatic entrance to the Gran Cañón de San José
Day 6. Although the scenic climax was behind us, we still had some stretches of gorges and rapids to enjoy. I again positioned myself to film the group going through the paired rapids of San Josécito and San Jos. Rocky attempted to flip his auto-right equipped raft in the biggest waves but didn't completely manage it. This lower gorge section was nice with some intermittent cliffs, it just did not have the deep shadows and confined drama of the upper gorge. The last rapid of White Wall rounded out the gorge. The remaining miles had particularly flat water and abundant motorboats and fishing nets. I got out to explore a sketchy adit built for testing a dam site. Shortly onward the whole group checked out an interesting cave with hundreds of bats on river left. The last two kilometers were probably the roughest of the whole trip as we were trying to power through the flatwater to have an overdue lunch at our takeout ramp. At long last the tall orange bridge over the Usumacinta came into view, signaling the end of our trip. We paddled 24 kilometers to end the trip at Km142. There was much to do derigging the boat at keeping a watchful eye on human scavengers and I was feeling a bit heat exhausted from this final push. Eventually we got sorted out and piled into the crowded van back to Palenque. A shower and AC were much appreciated at the end of this jungle trip. é
Rapido San Josecito (III)
Rapido San José (III+)
The Usumacinta ended up being unlike any other river trip I have been on. Sure it was a bit slow and heavy like pretty much any raft trip but the experience otherwise more than made up for that. The jungle sounds, the Mayan ruins, the incredible waterfalls, the warm waters, the gorges, the big water hydraulics, the people. It really is a testament to Rocky and his team of local guides that such a family-friendly river trip can be carved out of this remote edge of Mexico. A huge thanks to them for such a great trip that has wetted my appetite to seek out more Chiapas whitewater.
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