DR 2018: Part II - The Lower Rio Blanco

Below:  Brandon Dale boofing into a tight landing.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.

The Rio Blanco flows out of the steep mountains east of the city of Banao, almost in the center of the Dominican Republic.  It cuts an impressively deep and beautiful canyon with vertical walls that narrow to a width of less than twenty feet across in places.  

The trail reaches the river about a quarter-mile upstream of the power plant, so paddlers have to scrape down part of the dewatered section and ferry across the strong outflow from the power plant before the actual run gets started.  This access is a bit time consuming to figure out the first time, but should only take about 20 minutes on future laps and the whole process makes it feel like mini expedition every time.  

Below: Mikel Carr boofing a hole into the tightest part of the canyon.  Photo by Adam Goshorn

Below:  Near the end of our time in the DR, we headed back to the Blanco, but arrived at the powerhouse just as the last trickle of water was cutting off.  We waited a couple hours in hopes it would turn back on, but eventually had to accept our fate and wheelchair the two miles out of the canyon.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.

Below: A quick Two Minute Tour from the footage we shot on one of our runs down the Lower Rio Blanco.  Filmed by Adam Goshorn and Mikel Carr.

Until Next Time...

-Adam Goshorn

Below:  The boys floating through the tightest part of the canyon.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.