Micos!

Well we made it into Mexico an on our second day we made it into the tiny town of pago-pago to run the now famous Cascadas de Micos in the mountainous state of San Luis Potosi. These are a set of seven cacadas or waterfalls that range from 7 to 30 feet. These are all fairly forgiving although the rain brought up the water for our last run down, and the holes at the bottom of the drops started to get a little stickier. They are not to bad though, and are fun enough that we have been lapping he short stretch almost constantly. The high water has made three or four lines possible for each drop which creates an almost never ending variety of slides and falls. We also found some fun surf waves in the class II-III- section below the waterfalls that have sprung up in the high water. We knew the whitewater would be fantastic, but we didn´t know that there would be beautiful rainforest mountains so close to the border. Our preconcieved notions that Mexico was all a desert were quickly erased.

We hadn´t planed on staying long in Micos, but the people and the quality of the whitewater has made us stay. We have many knew friends who are all so helpful. Anna, the owner of Huasteca rafting has helped us with shuttles and beta. Also a mexican kayaker named Jorge has opened his home, offered shuttle help, and has given us a list of his Mexican kayaking contacts for help in some of our future stops. JOrge also brought us some much needed purified water as a gift. We paddled with Jorge and his son down the Micos, and they truly are wonderful people. Jorge, a doctor, explained that while he was living in Colorado for 6 months in the early nineties the climbers and kayakers he met were so helpful that he wanted to return the favor. So we want to thank the Colorado kayaking community for being so cool.

Anyways here are some pictures of Micos. The pictures of the falls are in the order they come in on the run, and some of the smaller ones have been left out. Click on the pictures for a better picture.

This sign means your in the right place


The big falls. We put in below this 70 foot monster. Altough it has been run succesfully many times it has also broken enough backs to make it more or less a crap shoot.


Jorge´s son Jaistemae on the first waterfall


Uldis on the second falls which has a little hole at the bottom. This drop is bigger than it looks here. The first and big waterfall are in the background.


After a decent drop with no good photo angle and a smaller drop comes this drop which is a fun slide on the right, a slide to a five foot drop in the middle, and this drop on the far left. Each are so fun I recomend them all.


After the last drop comes the smallest pool and the largest fall. This is rumored in the guidebook to be thirty feet, but I think it is a little smaller. There are big fun vertical falls on the far right and left and a big slide to a ten foot drop in the middle.


Nelson jumping the big falls.


This is the last rapid. It also has many routes, but my favorite is a long slide, maybe 100 yards, into a drop that is supposed to be nasty hole, but at the flows we saw it was pretty flushy.


The takeout for the lower run.