Datos Insuficientes

In the summer of 2007, kayaker and blogger Shane Robinson found himself paddling down Peru’s isolated Apurimac River, one of the Amazon’s five major tributaries. Ahead of him lay the Abysmo–a deep, daunting gash in the earth. Thousand foot cliffs rose from the river bottom. Once inside, bailing would be next to impossible. Shane and his partners, Andrew Oberhardt and Bryan Smith, knew two things about the stretch of river that they were paddling into. First, the Abysmo was going to be big. There would be miles and miles of massive slot canyons and fifth class white water. Second, the end of their journey would come in the form of a big, ugly, orange bridge named Puente Pasaje. Everything between was unknown water. They had no map, no aerial photos and enough food for five days. Fifteen years of kayaking had led to this moment.

Music: Vale Do Juca by Siba  •   Music for 18 Musicians by Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

The photo-enhanced version of Datos Insuficientes is up and running. The Range Life’s Andrew Oberhardt and Todd Gilman milked their hard drives to come up with a set of images to fit with Shane’s words. It’s the only way to get a sense of scale. El Rio Apurimac, which roughly translates into divine oracle, is massive. Look for the details. Check out the high water mark on the canyon walls.