Río Jaitique, Lower, Honduras (click here for the Honduras table of rivers)

river photo

Class: V ; Flow: 150-500 cfs; Average Gradient: 11 m/km; Portages: yes & tricky; Length: 15 km; Time: 5 hours

Season: June to October; rafts? no; Highlights: scenery and creeky challenges; Crux move: portaging prowess

Put-In: Jaitique bridge (482 m); Take-Out: Azacualpa bridge (315 m)

Description: (click here for general notes about my descriptions)

The Río Jaitique is a beautiful but tiring portage fest that will appeal mostly to hair-boaters. This small creek throws everything at you, with many multi-drop rapids, with lots of technical boofs and slides, set in a variety of narrow basalt gorges. I portaged quite a few times, using ropes on multiple occasions, and the scouting time and effort was also significant. I did enjoy the parts between the portages though, and the scenery was top- notch. I can email some more pictures to anyone that is keen to know more.

A full description is in the Mayan Whitewater El Salvador, Honduras, & Nicaragua guidebook.

Descent History: I ran this in August 2006 with 175 cfs at the PI.