On this trip the high water in the Upper section was a new feature nobody ever experienced before. Many close-rapids blending into very long sets. Hydraulics were bigger and easily could flip rafts. We witnessed several near flips in many places and had bona fide flips three times (two in Pauca and one in Shapalmonte) that fortunately were relatively inconsequential. One thing to remember is that it's best for kayakers and others to hop on an overturned raft ASAP and right it while still on the water! The fast voluminous current and wide river make getting a flipped raft to the side difficult. The high water and associated dangers prompted us to skip the Inner Gorge section with the class Vs by contracting a shuttle from Huchus to Chagual, which took an entire day (7 am to midnight).

Other than the high water issues and raft flips, folks got alon and things generally went well, which is a testament to everyone's navigational skills, decisions on the water, and willingness to help out both on the water and in camp.

 We kept to the planned schedule pretty well, which included 2 full layover days on the Upper part (at Sanachgán Day5 and Sinchibin Day12), while on the Lower section we took several shorter days instead of a full layover.  We did a lot of hikes on the Upper and Middle sections, and a few on the Lower.  

The weather was hot from the start with temps probably never dropping below 15oC/59oF (avg. hi/lo 90/70oF). In fact, it was uncomfortably warm several evenings on the Upper part, but not on the Middle or Lower. we experienced slightly rainy weather many days in the first week but then almost nothing the next ~20 days down to the jungle.

Bugs were a bit less bothersome than in July or October. Traveller's diarrhea was a problem for some of the foreigners at one time or another, with about 5 rounds of cipro going out to different folks.

Marañon Jan16 trip SUMMARY (last update 1Apr2014)

MARAÑON JAN16 TRIP SUMMARY:

Our group consisted of 19-24 folks at any given time: mostly Americans, but also two Canadians, an Italian, a Slovenian, a Swede, and several Peruvians. The initial base of this trip was Huaraz at the hostal "Mi Casa" run by Patty Ames. About half of the food shopping was done in Lima and the rest in Huaraz.  Our group numbered 22 at the start, 24 from Chagual to Balsas, 19 from Balsas to Rentema, and 22 to Imacita. We had 5 rafts: 16'SB, 15'SB yellow, 14'SB, 16'cat, 16'cat, 11 kayaks, and 2 IKs. The big water was challenging, making some rapids harder and some easier, but overall there was much more potential to flip rafts.  Since we had some flips and were taking more time getting down the first section, I contracted a shuttle for our group from Huchus to Chagual to avoid the class Vs (Wasson's and Llamara).  We had no problems with any villages except one just past Yupicusa where folks were chasing us trying to get us to stop - we explained things to guys on canoes who came out to intercept us. There were a few medical problems: some traveller's diarrhea, some foot fungus (in the jungle), some scrapes/etc.  Although additional sanitation measures were taking on this trip (chlorox in hand wash water, frequently sterilizing tables, having folks wash/sterilize hands, sterilizing outside of veggies used), still about a third of the group (all foreigners) suffered from some traveller's diarrhea at some point on the trip - cipro took care of it quickly (if taken). 

Jan16  (Day1) Departed 8 am from Huaraz in large bus (29 passenger) and a truck (for the gear). We were in Chavín de Huantar at 11 am and toured through the ruins there, then had lunch. WE made it to the put-in just before dusk, but the gate was locked.  After talking to the owners, we received permission to break the lock to descend (I gave them money to buy a new lock when one of them arrived later). The main put-in gravel bar was covered completely with water, but we still found a nice place to rig and areas to camp.  Bagel dinner.

Jan17 (Day 2) Light rain. Rio up a bit - estimated at ~230 cms (8000 cfs) and fast/powerful.  Máximo left with the bus unexpectedly the previous night - I called him back to take unused gear and bring some oar mounts.  Still missing pair of oar locks so Emil paddles first part like paddle raft with yellow raft and Victor has some fashioned in Huacaybamba - they work well.  We stop to scout/hike at first rapid (Huacanoragra), which is a huge IV but has sneak on RR. PaulJ goes down the meat and almost flips - can't stop until 1 km downstream. We opt for small camp due to unknown difficulty at Jata. Tamale dinner.

Jan18 (Day 3)  Cloudy; light rain; cool day with some sun. Jata is just downstream and big - we scout on RR; about class III-IV with easier route opening up on RR, or even down RL to start moving to center; still need to miss hole at bottom RL. All do fine.  PaulK portages. Get water at springs RR at km 9. Stop for lunch and hike at Q.Pañaragra at km 15 RL; Jayson & Ira pass landing but we get them back up with IK crossing quebrada. Lots of water in quebrada makes it hard to cross, so we use cable car to cross on hike up. OK hike.  After a surprise III with a big hole RR (km 17) we stop at Yesojirca Narrows. There's an eddy just before on RR, so eventually we all end up all scouting on RR. There's a challenging wave/hole inside the narrows but tougher is the 1 km afterward, starting with two huge holes on RR to avoid (not hard). Second raft (Jayson/Steve) surfs wave/hole farther down come close to flipping w/out kayak support. All make it through fine though Nato (IK) swims 2X. Camp km 29 RR huge big beach lots of wood. Salmon/steak dinner. 

Jan19 (Day 4)  Sunny morning - some sunburn.  Water temp measured at 16oC/61oF. Utcush (III) is big and long but easily passed just boat scouting. Anasazi-type ruins RR come up quickly and have to be vigilant to stop folks to explore. Another big rapid not marked (km 31.5 Asa)is long with large boulder in middle of rio.  Stop to get water Huanupampa but don't do hike. Río Yanamayo enters with ~90 cms (3000 cfs) and boosts rio to ~400 cms (~12000 cfs) but still below vegetation line. Flat section to a right turn where big PAUCA rapid starts. VIDEO Rapid is huge IV+ (10 on GC scale) with tough waves/holes in main first part but worse is after left turn where a huge hole bottom center of river will easily flip rafts. I fail to signal everyone over at the top - Rambo signals first raft (PaulJ) to stop RL but there's some miscommunication and PaulJ goes in without scouting. He does well first part but then hits hole at bottom and flips. I chase in kayak, with Lorenzo and then Rambo later. PaulJ gets on upside down cataraft through RR side of Pachachin Rapid (class III on RR; IV+ on RL) then in long flat section below I try to get over to side but very difficult. Rambo's method much better - kayakers tie on, hop on upside-down raft, attach flip line and all help right boat while still on the water. Takes 3 folks to flip back over (part of problem in kayak tied on back full of water). Paul's guitar in waterproof case got wet. Rambo and I hike/paddle back upstream to others. Radios are very helpful.  Although tough in one spot to walk rapid, it is possible and many elect this. Rambo runs Ira's raft and hits RR side of hole but doesn't flip. Simon rows 14'SB solo with similar line but more away from hole. Victor rows 15'yellow SB and flips in hole at bottom but with extra kayakers close by soon right it just past Pachachin. I row 16'SB hit first hole RR at turn knocks oars away but I'm far enough RR to miss hole. We camp at huge beach RL by Sanachgan. Burgers/Tamales dinner.

Jan20 (Day 5)  Layover Day (Sanachgan). Nice spot for layover but no good clear drinking water available. Victor/Renzo cross rio to get water at quebrada just upstream but it's murky.  Some hike to quebrada with falls/boulders and then up trail (all RL) for great views of rio and next rapids; some hike it in the morning; some in afternoon.  We do raft repair and relax. Tarp up for shade, then some rain threatening in afternoon. But strong wind gusts tear the tarp - we try to repair.  Lasagna dinner.  

Jan21 (Day 6) Partly cloudy day. Sanachgan rapids are very long class IV (8 on GC scale) but there are good lines.  Nato takes a long swim. Dusan swims near end (I'm with both and help).  Easy to Tranca, which has a huge wave-hole on RL  - easy to avoid. Lower part has swirly water RR by wall but also easy to avoid. Easier rio to camp at Q.Manta RL side.  Many high flat areas available among the gravel/rocks.  We're there early (2:40pm) so do hike up quebrada. Simon IKs part of it. Ravioli dinner.

Jan22 (Day 7)  Sunny day to start w/some rain later. SHAPALMONTE (10 on GC scale) is just downstream. We stop on RL to scout - spend 2-3 hr total scouting/preparing/running. Portage is not possible for passengers as walls close out routes top RR and bottom RL. Huge hole top RR is problematic for an RR run and big waves/holes in center tough but main problem is huge hole RL by wall near bottom.  Most kayakers run far RR line and just make it right of the top hole then safely wait below for rafts. Rambo runs Ira's light IK with Ira onboard down center trying to get RR and hits RR side of hole at bottom but stays upright. I run big cataraft with PaulJ and Ron onboard starting RL and hoping to get RR of hole but end up going directly into it - completely submerges cat and washes us off but cat shoots directly up and lands upright!  I'm underwater (under the cat) for 20-30 seconds before surfacing but we all get back on and aside from a bent oar, all is fine. Emil rows a similar line and the same thing happens to them, but the raft is pulled back a second time and flips. VIDEO Jayson and Simon stay farther RL next to the wall, which ends up being a safer line that misses the meat of the hole. They stayed upright.  In the future, at these flows, I think best to try for that far RL line next to the wall, or enter top center and try to punch RR at the lower part of the top RR hole.  It's afternoon when we're through. Next section is II-III as expected - no camps until the Huacrachuco confluence, where we find a nice camp RR upstream side. Fajitas dinner.

Jan23 (Day 8) Mostly cloudy. Rio up a bit and muddier. Side stream was real muddy previous evening but cleared up some by morning. Tulpas is a III-IV but easy to avoid the tough parts by running it RL (though a top far RL hole needs to be avoided as well).  We stop at Puente Jitaraxan and I talk to some folks driving by, then decide we'll all go down to Huchus and find a ride around the tough section there. The rapids downstream of Rio Rupac are roughly still class III difficulty - no scouting necessary. Stop at high wall RL to fill up water jugs with spring water flow off cliffs. Hike up Cañas is very nice. The rapid (III-IV) is tough with a huge hole L of center in lower part that's hard to see on the scout.  Where canyon opens up I talk to Simon (local resident there) who informs me of road access out, so we camp there. A local truck comes by to gather gravel so we talk to Victoria (owner) and arrange to contract it to take a lot of our gear to Chagual. Also arrange two Hilux to get up to Tayabamba.  Thai curry dinner.

Jan24 (Day 9) PORTAGE SHUTTLE DAY.  Vehicles are at our camp at 6:30 am, we load up and are off by 9 am.  Some mud is tough to get through going up to main road but we make it, and then 4 hr up over cold pass to Tayabamba, where we eat lunch and regroup. The Hilux have folks sitting exposed in the back, so I find two combis (with seats for everyone) for the drive to Chagual (7 hr more). One combi takes off first but detours through Chilia and is delayed a few hours.  Our combi is delayed 1.5 hr due to road blockage by falling out and a stuck bus - we watch a caterpillar lift bus out and fill the hole, then are in Chagual by 11pm. Other combi there at 1am. Truck with gear (and Carson/Renzo) goes much slower and is there at 5 am.  

Jan25 (Day 10) Mostly sunny day. We have breakfast in Chagual, then re-rig in the morning, launching just after lunch (I buy both for folks in the local restaurant from Juliana). José and Jesse arrive on the flight that morning. We find out engineers have been here a few times in the past 2 years surveying upstream sites for dams. We make our way down fun class II-III big water rapids to the camp just upstream of Vijus (RL side) which is still exposed and nice - though with a bit higher water much would be submerged(!).  Fish/fajitas meal

Jan26 (Day 11)  Partly cloudy day.  We get into Vijus early and do some shopping. Gansul is a fun III. We stop downstream at km 22- forgot to fill water jugs in Vijus but don't find clear water on RR (Quebrada La Lima) this time. We do hike up the RL quebrada here (Q.La Cancha) though gets soft and quick-mud in places up higher.  (OK hike - not great) - meet Rogelio who lives near there and he takes us to his house overlooking the rio and gives us some water. Downstream we fill up water RL km 33 Llaupuy oroya horse crossing where there are some evangelistas.  There's a good II-III rapid downstream - we continue to a great camp km 38 Sinchibin with clear cold stream nearby (Q.Capillania).  

Jan27 (Day 12)  Layover day. Some hike in morning; some in the afternoon. Pleasant hike up Quebrada Capillania 3 km to a bridge - trail on other side continues 7 km to Calemar. There are lots of cacti, nice views down into canyon and rio, and can also scramble down to rio and hike back up in floodplain - interesting!  Stewed pollo/BBQ pollo dinner. 

Jan28 (Day 13)  Mostly sunny day. We make it down to km 41.5 and hike at Q.Urpuyacu 2 hr - shady with trees much of the way - far up a very cool narrows but not prepared to scale the drop to get farther in. Stop in Calemar for lunch (José hiked here the previous day and asked the woman to prepare lunch for us) - some hike into town to see Ciro Alegrias house - fine fresh pan.  Back on water; easy rio.  End up camping across from Cascada Poso by the huge walls. It's windy in there but next to wall it's OK for kitchen and tents.  Beautiful spot!  Spaghetti dinner (spicy sauce!!). 

Jan29 (Day 14)  Stop at waterfall in the morning. Still windy in the a.m. Talk briefly to folks at Milaudia -say engineers have been there recently surveying more dam sites. Decide on short day to Q.Sute, where we have an early lunch and do a long  hike up the quebrada and back. OK hike on nice trail much of the way but need to cross the stream farther up which is a bit tricky.  Lots of ciruelas and friendly residents.  Cliff dwellings are close to the river. We cross rio to a  decent sheltered camp but still some wind gusts get in.  Turkey/potato/corn dinner. 

Jan30 (Day 15)  We stop at Montevideo for hike up to Incan tomb casitas - very nice view.  I meet Neil again and he comes down to Llanten with us. We hike up Llanten as well to awesome narrows - back for late lunch. Then through Llanten rapid - big long III-IV but all do fine.  Rafts run it on RR.  Several folks There's some upstream wind but we still get to Samosierra early and scout lines for early launch next day.  Indian curry dinner.

Jan31 (Day 16)  We run SAMOSIERRA- a very tough class IV+ rapid (9 or 10 GC scale). Early start - on water by 7:30am. I think there's a safe chicken route far RR but rafters decide to run a line in the center - a bit left at top then moving to the right lower down. Jayson nearly flips in one part; PaulJ get knocked around and loses hold of oars; others are fine and all rafts make it through upright.  Jesse's skirt pops at top wave and he swims most of the upper rapid. Ghost boat one IK; Nato runs other chicken RR route. Other kayakers run it fine or skip just a little. Lower parts of rapid are class III or II. We are at Balsas at noon and have lunch with Julia, then down through big class III rapid by bridge to take-out where we derig a lot at Alciviale's place.  Two combis and a taxi take us up to Celendin where we arrive by 6 pm and stay in Hotel Villa Madrid.  [I'm supposed to meet the anti-dam/anti-mine activists but they don't show - instead change meeting to next day]. Restaurant dinner (Celendín). 

Feb1 (Day 17)  Some of us go to Cajamarca - StevenL/ Belle, Simon, Nato, Georgia, PaulJ, Rambo & Victor depart. Pedro/Johanna/Jesús come in. Do shopping in Cajamarca. Brief stop Baños del Inca. Back in Celendín too late for meeting, though José presents his report on sediment/fish problems from Chadin II dam.  

Feb2 (Day 18)  Drive back to Balsas; lunch in restaurant and re-rig, on water by 4pm. Camp about 6 km downstream RL at nice wind-sheltered beach.  Spaghetti dinner.

Feb3 (Day 19)  Partly cloudy. We are at Playa El Cura fairly early - hike to ridgetop ruins of Chachapoya-Cajamarca culture (7th century AD) affords great views. Good class III after then lots of II-III. We arrive to EL CHOCLÓN at 3:15pm but there is no water in the quebrada, so we run it - lower part of the rapid is the toughest and has huge waves/holes by wall RL side. All do fine though. We continue through Santa Rosa rapid (III) to camp at confluence with Río Yangas.  Tamale dinner. 

Feb4 (Day 20) I take off early (6:30am) to Mendán since nobody has been answering phones there and find Iván who says he was anticipating our arrival and his mom will prepare lunch for us in LaMushka. The group arrives to Mendán around 10am. The ronda (led by Simon Mejia) is out investigating an assault on the young medical doctor woman the previous evening. We walk into town escorted by some locals and are warmly received. Pedro gave a ride downstream to some of the ronda while we were going into the village. We go down to La Mushka and have a late lunch prepared by Dionysia. Discuss layover and long hike up to Talap but decide against it (too far).  We give raft rides to Ivan and Jefir- the next rapids (TUPEN GRANDE and SHINGATE) are big. Jayson almost flips in first Tupen Grande rapid in hole RL lower part. Then Ron fails to stop for the scout of Shingate but makes it through fine. Huge waves.  We continue down to camp km 57 RR just past right turn on big beach below cactus garden. Fish/sopa de zapallo dinner

Feb5 (Day 21)  Partly sunny day. Nice little hike in morning among cacti. We are soon at San Lucas and scout RL a bit. With proper entrance to get center/RR around the right turn, the rapid is very manageable class III-IV.  Fill up water in the spring RR downstream. In Saquilillo I ask about more ruins/momias but residents say there is nothing. We pass Chadin II dam site and are at Playa El Inca for hike and lunch. Some make it up to tumbas - others just hike around lower trails. I go up the little rio path a bit.  The beach is smaller than before.  All paddle fine through PLAYA EL INCA rapids (III-IV). Continue down to Magdalena (just past a III) and camp at beautiful beach RR at top of the rapid. Decide against a layover.  Lomo Saltado dinner. 

Feb6 (Day 22)  Partly sunny day.  Short hike in morning doesn't reveal a trail up above the camp.  All scout the big MAGDALENA rapid (III-IV) well and rafters decide to run far RR line - which high water opens up as a class III route.  No problems with any rafts.  Most kayakers run the meat over huge waves - super fun!  We are at LINLÍN later - all scout RL side - far RL side is possible due to the high water and class III-IV. Main channel is IV+ with huge wave-holes.  All rafts take far RL route without incident. Most kayakers run this line as well though one or two walk/skip. Next big rapid is Totora which we scout RR. It is class III-IV - huge fun waves down center; tougher on far RR; easy on far RL by wall. All rafts follow my line to work hard to ferry to RL side and take easy route by the wall.  We make it through Sauce (III+ still) and camp at huge nice beach RR, though Ron misses the stop and we work a bit to pull the cat back upstream to camp.  Turkey/potato dinner. 

Feb7 (Day 23)  Mostly cloudy day.  We make it to Charcos Agua Azul by 10:30 am and hike up/soak in the pools a while, then lunch. Lots of ciruelas are ripe on the trees. Meet Reyna at ferry crossing and Pedro gets some yuca. At Palaguas, the main camp is under water but there is another on lower part RR side just past the tributary - but I go down to check out the Amazon Cavern. The Cavern is half-covered with water so no camp this day. There is a dam survey crew just outside of it perforating the rock wall - dozens of workers are brought there each day on zodiacs. I call back with radio and all run Palaguas (two stout class IIIs), then we go down another 3 km to Playa El Limón which is huge and nice, with clear stream water available too. Indian curry dinner(?)

Feb8 (Day 24)  The final rapids are still pretty big - Chinuña has huge waves but can avoid them on the RR side. Jesse is rowing and goes into the meat backward with raft standing straight up - he falls off and bangs leg while Jesus holds on. We make it to Puerto Malleta around 11 am and I contract a taxi to take Jayson/Steve/me/Fred/Jesús to Bagua with an IK and kayak (we end up staying the night in Bagua Grande - Jayson/Steve leave the following morning). Rest of crew continues on the flat section - no wind - in camp early. Pasta diner. 

Feb9 (Day 25)  Another flatwater day but rio is moving well and little wind. Stop at Baños Almendral in the morning, then to Corral Quemado where I meet up with the crew and everyone has lunch in the restaurant.  I return to Bagua for more internet while rest of crew goes down to camp closer to Rentema. Risotto dinner.

Feb10 (Day 26) Into the pongos, I meet the crew along with Luciano and Manasés. Water level is slightly more than what we had in October. In the second big pongo (Amojado) Emil/Fred almost flip in lower waves where they're not expecting anything. The other rapids are II-III. We stop in El Muyo and kids out loving little rides around the big eddy. Noe and Brenilda+son(Anderson) join us there.  Some big swirly stuff but all do well in the section down to Nahém where we meet Eusebio and camp on a decent beach.  I show the film to the village that evening and pass out gifts including a new fine soccer ball. Dinner(?).

Feb11 (Day 27)  We have a soccer game against the villagers (who kick our ass!) and then pack up and head downriver. Manases returns to Bagua while Eusebio and one of his grandsons join us downstream. The pongo rapids are big but there's fine lines in all and they're just fun.  We make it to Yupicusa and go into the village for a warm reception - the apu (Gerardo) announces how we're welcome and soon we have our faces painted with achiote. We eat some lunch there though late, and buy a few items. We return to the boats late while villagers in the next pueblo chase us down as we are going by - not aware of our permissions from ORPIAN and Yupicusa.   Eventually two canoas with residents make it out to us and we discuss things and they are fine.  It is late - we make it to the Chiriaco confluence by dark - it is possible for Luciano, Noe, Emil and PaulK to return to Bagua that evening but only Luciano and Noe do so.  Local guys come over to ask about us and are fine we're there - actually try to sell some items to us in the morning. Indian dinner.

Feb12 (Day 28)  We make it down to Imacita by 11 am, de-rig, dry, lunch, and load up 3 combis with all gear and are on our way back by 3pm. PaulK and Emil take off pronto. The rest of us, departing 3 hr later, are stopped 1-2 hr in Chiriaco due to road work, so I go meet the alcalde there who is interested in promoting tourism. We are back in Bagua at 8pm and have a late dinner. 

Feb13 (Day 29)  Most of day is spent cleaning/drying/sorting gear at Linea Cargo.  Kurt Casey and Greg Schwendinger arrive.  Many folks depart (Dusan, Carson, Fred, Ron, Renzo, Pedro, Johanna). Many stay for additional exploratories on Chinchipe, Huancabamba-Chamaya, and other rios (Lorenzo, Jesse, Scott, Josh, Ira; joined by Kurt and Greg and Luciano). 

Jan-Feb Marañon Trip:
The group committed so far on the Jan-Feb trip has a good international component. About 2/3 of the group were guides or very experienced oarsmen or kayakers. 

Rocky Contos (me; San Diego, CA) will be the trip leader. You can read more about me at BIO. I've done the whole river 2X and organized both trips.
Pedro Peña (Lunahuana, Peru) has run rafts for the dam survey crew trips on the lower GC Amazon at high water. 
Alonso Campana (Cusco, Peru) runs an rafting operation in Cusco (Apurimac Explorer). Julio and Pedro did the whole river with me in Sep-Oct. 
Victor Baca (Cusco, Peru) is a class V kayaker/raft guide in Cusco who has guided many Apurimac trips.
Renzo Candela (Lunahuana, Peru) is a class V kayaker/raft guide in Lunahuana

Emil Carlsson (from Sweden/UK) has guided rivers in Nepal, Uganda, Morocco, Sweden, Scotland, and other places. Did did a GCC (Grand Canyon Colorado) last year. 
Lorenzo Bergamin (Italy) has guided lots in Nepal, Europe, USA (GrandCanyon), Chile and many other areas. Lorenzo and Emil did a GCC trip together. 
Josh Fisher (Quebec) is a class V kayaker who did a GCC trip with Emil and Lorenzo.  
Jayson Owens (WA) is an experienced rafters from the Seattle area and will captain a raft.
Steve Ramussen (WA) is another experienced rafter and friend of Jayson's. They'll be sharing rowing a raft. 
Dusan Komel (Slovenia) is a class III-IV kayaker and was the first to sign up nearly a year in advance.  
Carson Lyness (WA/CO) has guided the Yampa/Green, is a friend of Jayson's and was with him on their last GC trip(s); she's a class IV kayaker.  
Ralph Carabetta (MA) [POSTPONED TRIP] is a skilled rafter, has done GCC 5X (most as trip leader), hiked all over the Canyon, and many runs on most long Western USA rivers as well. 
Belle Lane (Davis) is a graduate student in hydrology who has guided various class III and IV rivers in CA and OR. 
Simon Saicheck (Davis) is her boyfriend and has guided extensively for 12 years all over the West and in India, Costa Rica, and Chile. They've paddled the huge class IV Siang (Tsangpo) in India.  
Steven Lane (Bay area) is Belle's father, an MD (he'll be the main doctor on the Upper trip), and has a lot of experience paddle rafting and in an IK.
Nathan Saichek ("Nato") (Redwood City, CA) is Simon's brother and has IK'd the entire GC Colorado, so should be fine on most of the trip - he works in engineering and life sciences stuff.  
Georgia Glaze (CA), Nato's girlfriend, will be a raft passenger/paddler.
Paul Johnson Big Sur (CA) is an RN and a class IV oarsman who plays stringed instruments and has organized two GC Colorado trips as well as numerous raft trips in California and Idaho.  
Paul Keating (Grass Valley, CA) is a class IV kayaker from who's done the GCC as well.
Jesse Mogler (Durango, CO) is a class IV kayaker/oarsman who has done 4 GCC trips and many other and could safety kayak. He'll be joining us in Chagual.
Ira Estin (CA) was a trip leader on many of the 17 GCC trips he's done; he also ran a ww rafting company in New Mexico for 12 years and now runs a Yosemite tour company. He will row class III and IV (probably sharing with Ron, Fred or others), but may not be comfortable with all the IVs.
Ron Hudson (Camarillo, CA) is another UCLA friend of Ira who has rowed GCC and other big rios of the West and does a lot of sea kayaking (retired now).
Scott McBride (Vancouver, BC) is a class IV+ kayaker and oarsman who has done GCC several times - once solo - and many rivers.
Fred Grote (FL) has done numerous GCC, Usumacinta, and tons of other long river trips, usually rowing, though he can paddle or be a passenger on this trip.
Johanna Sanchez (Lima, Peru) is Pedro's girlfriend and has paddled a bit on the Cañete. She'll be in a raft most of the time but maybe in IK or kayak on easy water.
Jesús Quiroz (Celendin) is a biology teacher and anti-dam activist from Celendín.
José Serra (Lima) holds an MBA from UCB and is now a retired anti-dam activist who wrote a report on how ineffecient and destructive the Chadin 2 dam will be.

BOAT ASSIGNMENTS