Río Negro, Upper, Honduras (click here for the Honduras table of rivers)

river photo

Class: V ; Flow: 200-600 cfs; Average Gradient: 23 m/km first half, 9 m/km second half; Portages: oh yeah; Length: 11 km; Time: 13 hours

Season: June to October; rafts? no; Highlights: awesome creeking; Crux move: risk management

Put-In: El Rodeo trail (385 m); Take-Out: main road bridge (220 m)

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

If you don't mind a little pain and suffering, the Upper Río Negro provides some of the finest and most challenging creeking in this book. The painful parts are a number of arduous portages and scouts, as the river is mostly in a steep rocky gorge. Tom and I were stuck overnight on this one despite getting an early start. At least we did not have to deal with a rainstorm; flash flooding is a major hazard on this creek. With a low run-to-scout/portage ratio, I am not sure I could be convinced to give this run another try, but if I were, it would be at lower water, which might make a few rapids easier.

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

Descent History: I ran this with Tom van Rijs in September 2018, with 500 cfs at the start. We got stuck overnight after underestimating the time needed for all the portage route finding. The driver called the mayor who called the army and police and others to look for us.